Kadima (Hebrew: קדימה‎, lit. Forward) is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians. With Ehud Olmert as party chairman following Sharon's stroke, it became the largest party in the Knesset after the 2006 elections, winning 29 of the 120 seats, and led a coalition government. Although Kadima also won the most seats in the 2009 elections under Tzipi Livni's leadership, it became an opposition party for the first time after a Likud-led government was formed. On May 8, 2012, the party joined the governing coalition under Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prior to Kadima's formation, the political tug-of-war between Ariel Sharon and his right-wing supporters, both within the Likud and outside of it, was an on-going subject of speculation in Israeli politics and in the Israeli media. The expectation that Sharon would quit his own party to form a new party composed of his Likud allies and open the door to politicians from other parties to switch to the new party was dubbed the "big bang" (HaMapatz HaGadol) because it would result in a radical realignment of Israel's political landscape.

Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (born 18 October 1960), professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist, actor, and director best known for his martial arts action films. The most successful of these films include Bloodsport (1988), Kickboxer (1989), Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994), Sudden Death (1995) and JCVD (2008). He is known as "The Muscles from Brussels".

After studying martial arts intensively from the age of ten, Van Damme achieved national success in Belgium as a martial artist and bodybuilder, earning the "Mr. Belgium" bodybuilding title. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 to pursue a career in film, and achieved success with Bloodsport (1988), based on a story written by Frank Dux. He attained subsequent box office success with Timecop (1994), which was his highest grossing film with over $100 million, until 2011's Kung Fu Panda 2, which grossed over $665 million.

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who was an accountant. He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shotokan karate school. His styles consist of kickboxing, Shotokan karate, Muay Thai and Taekwondo. He eventually earned his black belt in karate. He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.

Francis Kadima is a lawyer based in Kenya, Africa. He is a Human Rights advocate best known (outside of Africa) for his defending captured Somali pirates in the Kenya Justice System. Kenya is emerging as the venue of choice for Piracy in Somalia cases and an important piece of the worldwide crackdown on piracy. Mr. Kadima was interviewed and asked why he defends the Somali pirates: "On why (I) defend pirates despite international community condemnation, the issue for a lawyer is not piracy as an offence per se but the higher issue of the due process (fair trial), which is a prerequisite for the Rule of Law which we all defend as lawyers and the international community to jealously safe guards. Whether a pirate is convicted or acquitted is not the issue, provided due process is followed. You should remember under the commonwealth (of which Kenya is a member), it ultimately states that an accused person is presumed innocent until proved guilty."

Mr. Kadima's formative years were spent in Judiciary. He is a managing partner of Kadima & Co. Advocates a successor firm of Omwitsa Wasuna Kadima Advocates which succeeded Omwitsa and Co., Advocates, with the latter having been established in the year 1970 as the first African Legal Practice in Mombasa. One of Mr. Kadima's offices in Mombasa is in one of Africa's oldest courthouse, a colonial building with bars still fixed over the office windows. The room is stuffed with legal volumes dating from the British colonial era and yellowing cardboard files. On the wall next to his oak desk, an Obama calendar is prominently displayed. Kadima & Co. Advocates specialize in Business, Civil Litigation and Criminal Law.