Kadima kicks off campaign with threat to bump off Hamas leaders

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Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened to assassinate Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders, as Kadima kicked off its election campaign in Sderot Monday.

Speaking about kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, Mofaz addressed Haniyeh. "As long as Gilad Shalit doesn't see the light of day, you won't see the light of day. As long as Shalit doesn't go free, you and your friends will not be free. We won't hesitate to send you on the the way we sent Yassin and Rantissi," he said, referring to previous Hamas leaders.

Mofaz's hard-line stance is part of Kadima's efforts to improve its image in the campaign, following Kadima leader and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's decline in the polls after the war in Gaza. Livni, who is also trying to look tough, devoted a considerable part of her speech to the Gaza war's accomplishments. She threatened Hamas that Israel would react harshly to any rocket fire, or even to any arms smuggling to the Gaza Strip.

"That's our commitment to the future and that's what a Kadima government headed by me will do," Livni said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059079.html