Quotes from Tzipi Livni

Without strong Arab backing, it will be hard, if not impossible, for a Palestinian leader to reach peace with Israel.

The Palestinian conflict is the glass ceiling of Israel's economy.

My ideology is not connected to the Palestinians.

My responsibility is to ask, 'How can I serve my ideology and my voters?'

Sept. 11 was a shock to the whole world.

I believe that democracy is about values before it is about voting. These values must be nurtured within society and integrated into the electoral process itself.

When I was young, I went to the Sinai and worked as a waitress.

I want Israel to have borders. For that, I need a map. I need a map on which our borders are specified.

I prefer jeans to a suit, sneakers to high heels, markets to malls.

Wars are not a choice we make for no reason.

We must draw a distinction between understanding and supporting Israel's values and existence, and criticising any Israeli government's policy.

Israel needs to change direction, and this is not just political. We're becoming more closed-in, more isolated, more scared. Those who talk tough are making the State of Israel very weak, very isolated - very Jewish, in the Diaspora-sense, in that 'everyone is against us.' We need to get out of this.

I am good at persuading people. In convincing the other, I try to start from their point of view so it's easier for me to find a common denominator.

Hamas does not represent the national aspirations of the Palestinians. It represents extreme Islamic ideas, which they share with Iran, Hezbollah, and Syria.

In a democracy, you need to have a strong judicial system. You need freedom of speech, you need art, and you need a free press.

When you look at the Lebanon-Syria border, you see a porous border despite the fact that you have a U.N. Security Council decision that speaks of an embargo on weapons transfers to Hezbollah.

The role of a leader is to create a reality and not to be influenced by polls.

A romantic relationship requires honesty between a couple.

I am a pretty good lawyer, and I decided to close the office and to enter politics.

The real danger is a politics that buries its head in the sand.

I don't envy my teachers. I used to preach to them.

Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people and embraced all the Jews who had to leave Arab states. This should be also the true meaning of the future Palestinian state. It should be the answer for the Palestinians wherever they are - those who live in the territories, and those who are being kept as political cards in refugee camps.

Netanyahu's government and its faulty and politicized priorities are leading Israel into bankruptcy.

Israel has a problem not because of the perception that the entire world is against us, but because of the government's problematic policies.