Leading MP backs Livni for Israel premiership

JERUSALEM (AFP) - The chairman of Israel's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee pledged his support Wednesday for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in a party primary to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"I have decided to choose from the many candidates on the list, all of whom are friends," Kadima MP Tzachi Hanegbi told public radio, saying he felt Livni embodied the "necessity of a consensus on the centrist line of Kadima."

The party will hold its first ever primary on September 17 to choose a new leader to replace Olmert, who in a shock announcement on July 30 said he would step down following the vote to battle corruption allegations.

In addition to chairing the powerful committee which oversees Israel's most critical security decisions, Hanegbi is regarded as a senior official in the centrist party formed by former prime minister Ariel Sharon.

A recent poll showed Livni leading with the support of 35 percent of Kadima members, followed by Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a hawkish former general, with 25 percent.

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