Livni jettisoned by opposition

Israel’s main opposition Kadima party, expected to suffer defeat in the next election, has voted out leader Tzipi Livni and chosen ex-defence chief Shaul Mofaz to replace her.

The final count yesterday of a leadership ballot gave Mr Mofaz 61.7 per cent of the vote to Ms Livni’s 37.2 per cent.

The upset was a rare flash of drama in an unusually placid political scene dominated by premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, which has shown few of the cracks that have brought down past multi-party governments.