Kadima candidate Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is the chief Israeli negotiator with the Palestinian Authority.

Recent polls indicate an almost-assured victory for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Her main competitor, former Israeli military chief Shaul Mofaz, has dismissed the polls, one of which shows him losing to Livni by nearly 20 percentage points. Mofaz, who is Israel's Transportation Minister, has predicted that he will succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as Kadima party leader, albeit by a slim margin.

If none of the candidates secure at least 40 percent of the votes, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held a week later.

Mr Olmert has vowed to formally resign as prime minister after Kadima chooses a new party leader. He will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until the new Kadima leader forms a government.

Kadima's new leader must hold together a fragile coalition government or face new elections that could see another party leader elected as Olmert's successor.