Talk:Kadima

message: In the box at the top of the page, their political ideology is described as "Liberalism, Centrism," which could mean just about anything. I am particularly troubled by the word liberalism, since it not only has widely varying (and often even mutually exclusive) definitions, depending on the era and the location. Does this mean economic liberalism, as in, being in favor of the free market? Does this mean the "liberalism" of the US similar to that of the Democratic Party? Does this "liberalism" refer to economic or social issues? Take a look at how clearly this is done in the box for the US Republican Party. It divides them up into "fiscal" and "social." --N-k, 14:20, 31 July, 2008 (UTC)
:It's in the free market and small government sense (which is its meaning everywhere outside the US). пﮟოьεԻ 57 14:30, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: That word means different things in different parts of the world, and should be clarified for the sake of the English Wikipedia. Magog the Ogre (talk) 20:08, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Liberalism" 

message: Does anyone know if there's ant opinion polling in Israel, and, if there is, can we put the results here, as the Olmert scandal could affect its popularity. Arbiteroftruth (talk) 20:25, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Opinion Polling for Israel 

message: Kadima a 'centrist' party? Says who? Sharon "centrist"? Can someone explain this to me? Sonyes (talk) 10:27, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Kadima is the centre-center party, the center-left party is "Labour", the center-right party is "Likud". The policies of Kadima lie between the traditional right and traditional left parties of Likud and Labour respectively, so it is centrist. Centrism is region dependent. The Center-right US Republican party would be considered far right in some European countries, likewise, some European centre-right parties would be considered far-left in the US. 76.66.196.229 (talk) 11:34, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

text: I've heard two separate US media outlets refer to it as center-left. I am changing it to say "centrist". Magog the Ogre (talk) 07:23, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

text: I've provided two sources that say the group is centrist. One says center, the other center-left. Albeit neither is an online source, but you can look the one up in the library; I think you will find many other sources saying similar things. However, I do not think we should center-left or center-right, unless we want to put both, as both are substantially sourced. Magog the Ogre (talk) 20:07, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Centrist" 

message: I hate to exhaust anyone, but can someone explain in what sense the party adheres to liberalism, as that is a broad philosophy.
I looked up Liberal Zionism (see Zionism), and it the main page talked about it being an ancestor of Kadima (and modern-day Likud). Its references to the middle class and other terms sounded familiar to other aspects of Kadima's platform. Still, I would like to seek more insight.
I have collected several articles to open up a discussion on the economic policy of Kadima and where that fits on the political spectrum.
Please check out these sources.
*Kadima: Changing the government's financial priorities and maximizing transparency; fighting all aspects of poverty an reducing the gaps between social echelons; increase Israel's financial growth; promoting minority rights; fighting crime and violence; investment in socioeconomic infrastructure; boosting the Negev and Galilee areas; protecting the environment, promoting a solution for civil marriage in Israel and strengthening Israel's ties with Jewish communities aboard. 
*Labor MK defects to Kadima The party's social-economic policies, including development in the Galilee and Negev and a war on poverty and crime, is also included.
*Kadima Proposes Negative Tax, Civil Marriage and Secular Burial. Education Minister Meir Sheetrit has set out Kadima's socio-economic policy. It includes a negative income tax, civil marriage and secular burial. At the heart of Kadima's economic policy is a negative income tax, an idea that has been floated periodically in the media as a panacea for alleviating poverty. Such a tax, generally a graduated transfer payment made to persons who earn below a set amount, can be implemented in a multitude of ways. Sheetrit failed to reveal concrete details regarding Kadima's version of the idea. He said he hoped that a negative tax would break the cycle of unemployment and poverty.
*Kadima pledges upgrade in education to get people back to work The three main goals of Kadima's economic platforms are to stop the spread of poverty, narrow the gap between the rich and poor, and to raise the standard of living, which over the past 30 years has remained low in Israel in comparison with other Western countries.
:Kadima proposes to introduce negative income tax payments for people earning up to the minimum wage, until 2008. Kadima's economic policy stresses the urgent need to implement incentives for the unemployed to move them back into the labor force via education reforms including a longer school day and interest-free student loans for university education. Other incentives for working parents include recognition of daycare costs for tax purposes and increasing subsidies for the old and disabled.
:Sheetrit added that the more people will get out of the cycle of entitlements and into the labor force, the more money will be freed up that could be used to reduce poverty and generate growth. In addition, Kadima wants to reduce the number of foreign workers in Israel in an effort to raise wages.
:Kadima's plan pledges more transparency through compulsory tax reports, which in turn would provide more clarity about the need and allocation of welfare assistance.
*The 2006 Israeli Elections: A Primer Social Issues – Kadima proposes education reform, a focus on increasing immigration and improving absorption, providing a safety net for the elderly and disabled as well as fighting violence while strengthening law enforcement.
:Economic Issues – With the economic crisis over, Kadima plans to reduce the gaps between rich and poor. The party intends to change the State budget priorities, working to reduce the size of the government sector and improve investments and consumption while providing efficient services at reasonable prices. Parallel, the platform offers the protection of fair wages for workers, while providing incentives to go out and work and aid only for those unable to work.
*Column One: Enter the Netanyahu gov't: Netanyahu's free market economic philosophy is shared by Kadima and Israel Beiteinu. It is not shared by Shas or Habayit Hayehudi. The National Union is neutral on this issue. So to cut income taxes by 20 percent, as Netanyahu has pledged, a coalition with Kadima is preferable to its rightist alternative. On the other hand, the fact of the matter is that Netanyahu will probably be able to push his economic policies through the Knesset with either governing coalition, particularly if he proposes them quickly.
Please discuss and explain the political ideology it seems a part of. --Shamir1 (talk) 05:16, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Socio-economic policy and political stance 

message: I searched for the source of the "Platform" section of the Kadima Article. All I found was an article on Haaretz, but it was deleted, so I finally found it via the waybackmachine. If one of the Kadima article authors likes to add the source, the URL is:
http://web.archive.org/web/20051130030757/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/651003.html  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.134.119.221 (talk) 10:04, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Platform