Shaul Mofaz has congratulated Tzipi Livni on her Kadima primary win and has retreated home for a short vacation to rethink his political future but it appears he is interested in challenging the results of the party leadership race.

On Wednesday, Mofaz gave his close confidants approval to move ahead requesting a probe into the leadership race. In addition, it is being reported that if Livni is unsuccessful in establishing a coalition, Mofaz will do so.

Aides to Mofaz made it very clear; they are requesting that Justice Eliezer Rivlin, chairman of the Kadima elections committee, review the outcome and the handling of the election in the hope of turning around the results. They believe a proper probe into voting stations and the handling of votes will reveal that Mofaz was indeed the victor, not Livni.

The Kadima Court on Wednesday pushed off the request until after Rosh Hashanah due to a shortage of justices, with the case scheduled to resume on October 5th. The Mofaz camp has indicated it is considering turning to the district court in the matter, unwilling to abandon demands for a thorough inspection into the party primary elections.

Mofaz is making his intentions quite clear, hiring the services of strategic advisor Danny Cohen, who in 2001 was successful in overturning the outcome of the Labor Party race. Simultaneously, a number of close associates of Mofaz are seeking to lay the groundwork that if Livni fails in her coalition-building efforts, President Peres will pass the mandate to Mofaz.

The president is not compelled to place the mandate in the hands of a party leader, but may give it to any MK he deems capable of building a coalition.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)