Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA 29 July 2008

Livni declined to answer Israel Radio's Yaron Dekel's question as to if she
would remain in the Kadima Party if she failed to win the primaries.

Her now top PR advisor, Eyal Arad, spoke in the second hour of Dekel's
"Hakol Diburim" (It's all talk) program and when Dekel noted that Livni had
skirted the question, Arad replied that both he and Livni had orignially
been associated with Likud and bolted it for Kadima so they are not the type
of people to be unconditionally loyal to a party.

Dekel responded that Arad had given him a big headline - that Livni might
leave Kadima if she doesn't win the primaries.

Arad did not deny the headline.
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Livni: I have all the qualifications needed to be prime minister
Jul. 29, 2008 JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331132203&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni asserted Tuesday that she would beat Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert in the upcoming Kadima primary should he decide to run.

In an interview with Army Radio, Livni said, "If the prime minister decides
to run in the Kadima primary, which doesn't seem reasonable to me, I will
beat him." The foreign minister also rejected claims of rivalry between
herself and the prime minister saying that although she had "nothing
personal against Olmert," the process within the Kadima faction was intended
to replace him.

"It's time for the public to regain faith in politics," Livni went on, "I
hope people haven't given up yet. I have said this from the outset, and it's
Olmert's decision. The public is tired of him."
The foreign minister went on to speak of Israel's security situation,
emphasizing the importance of planning and solid decision-making. "We are in
a place where we recognize threats; we have to deal with them in advance.
Security is a lot more than just army and command. Security is making the
right decisions."

Responding to assessments that she did not have enough experience to fill
the post of prime minister, Livni claimed that she had "made decisions under
pressure," and that she possessed "all the qualifications to be prime
minister."

"I am ready to be tested," she continued, "not only on what I say, but also
on what I have done."

Throughout the Army Radio interview, Livni repeated both her faith in the
Kadima faction, and her belief in the tenets of democracy. "I was party to
the founding of Kadima; it is a party which needs to lead this country,
which reflects views that most of the public supports," she said.

"I intend to run for leadership of Kadima and to be prime minister. I would
prefer a unity government. I believe that the issues I promote are shared
between the other parties. We must guard the principles law and democracy;
everyone is speaking about these things but not succeeding in advancing
them."

The foreign minister also spoke of Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, and
the question of when a general election would be held. "Netanyahu and I have
worked together, and we can continue to work together. The question is if he
will [call for early elections], if he will want to do it now - that's his
prerogative. Everyone will need to ask what the right thing to do now is. If
they want to go to elections they will do it, one way or another."