Tzipi Livni overthrown as leader of Kadima Two respected Israeli journalists reported on a briefing he gave officers in May 2001 during which he allegedly ordered a daily "quota" of Palestinian deaths. He was also accused of urging Ariel Sharon, under whose premiership he served as defence minister between 2003 and 2006, to assassinate Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader. Mr Mofaz is regarded as the architect of Israel's controversial policy of "targeted assassinations," which has resulted in the deaths of several senior Palestinian militants. Since joining Kadima shortly after it was founded in 2005, Mr Mofaz has attempted to repackage himself as a more moderate figure. Most notably, he has put forward his own peace plan, which calls for the creation of a provisional Palestinian state in Gaza and 60 per cent of the West Bank, leading to a more comprehensive peace deal at a later stage. But the proposal has been dismissed by the Palestinian Authority, which fears that provisional borders would become permanent ones, leaving 500,000 Jewish settlers on land Israel occupied during the Six Day War of 1967. Mr Mofaz is considered much closer to the Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, than his predecessor. Both men are thought to favour military action against Iran, with Mr Mofaz describing his one-time countrymen as "the root of all evil." Mrs Livni has warned that the new leader would turn Kadima into a "Likud B" and some commentators have suggested that Mr Mofaz could even seek a merger with the prime minister's party. Mrs Livni was once seen as a prime minister-in-waiting, and under her leadership Kadima won the largest number of seats in Israel's last parliamentary election in 2009 -- only to see herself outflanked by Likud, which succeeded in forming a ruling coalition with right wing parties. She was seen in the West as serious in her commitment to a peaceful revolution to the decades-long conflict with the Palestinians, although many Israelis viewed her as an inept leader of the opposition. Kadima's popularity has suffered significantly as a result, and opinion polls suggest it could fall to fourth place in the next election, beaten by the resurgent Labour Party, Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-right Yisrael Beitenu and Likud, which remains the front-runner. With Mrs Livni's departure, all of the main party leaders are considered either hardline on Palestinian issues, or indifferent to them. In a sign of how peripheral the peace process has become in the eyes of the Israeli public, Mr Mofaz barely made mention of the issue in his acceptance speech, instead presenting himself as a champion of Israeli social rights by speaking of housing, education and the right to a "dignified old age." Some analysts had predicted that Mrs Livni could lead loyalists into a new party, although such is the scale of her defeat many now believe she will simply retire from politics -- despite a plea from her victorious rival to remain in the party. "Tzipi, your place is with us," Mr Mofaz said. As of tonight, there is one Kadima, unified for its vision for the country, its values and the righteousness of its path.