Former Minister Tzipi Livni tonight posted a message to her supporters on her Facebook account in which she stated that she would not run in the upcoming elections in any political framework.
"I know that Israel is important to you and that you truly believe that I have the power to save it in the next election. Unfortunately, the power to save is not in my hands so you will not see me on the lists submitted to the Knesset this week, but it is in the hands of us all together," Livni wrote.
She added, "When the election was announced and I heard the voices calling for me to return I did not answer immediately, I wanted to see how things would develop in our camp and said, responsibly, that I would return if I knew I was significantly affecting our camp's chances of advancing the vision we believe in. The considerations I shared with you on the day I was forced to leave politics two years ago have not changed, according to which I have acted all these years and even now.
"I resigned then so as not to split the camp and even today, so as not to add to the existing split, I did not jump on the bandwagon of my own party. In order not to harm the common goal, I did not join projects that only transferred seats between small and medium parties in the bloc. Parties that share the vision of an Israel that is both Jewish and democratic, whose leadership is liberal, law-abiding and peace-loving, must unite," Livni said.
"The goal in my eyes is to create a large party, representing our positions, that will face Netanyahu head on and restore hope to our camp. This is what happened when we established the Zionist Camp, so I called for a union that was formed when Blue and White arose (despite the personal political price I paid.) A party has been formed that has realistically fought for premiership and has become a governmental alternative."
She talked about the considerations that led her to the decision. "I waited until now to see if, how and where I could make a change. I met and talked to the relevant players, not about places and roles but what created change and therefore I have not closed the door to this day. Even today I think our camp can establish a big party and so we will stand head to head in a political struggle for state leadership and the identity of the largest party, instead of settling for who will be the second largest party. Such a move requires decisions that will no longer be made until the lists are submitted. It is flattering and exciting but not everything depends on me or only on my decision, and not every alleged option that was published and caused some of you to call me to exercise it really existed.
"Every politician and party chairman has his own perceptions and aspirations. I respect the heads of the parties whose considerations are different from mine and I believe that none of them will risk throwing votes in the electoral threshold bin. Those who remain and represent our common vision deserve our trust.
"I ask you one thing: Do not say I have no one to vote for, vote. A seat is not an object, it is your votes. The amount of seats our camp will have depends on one thing: how many of us will come to vote. Let's vote together for the way and our values and the parties that represent them. Not just 'only not Bibi', but what we do believe in?" Livni concluded.
