Tzipi Livni. Photo: Antje Wildgrube.

After months of speculation, former Israeli Foreign Minister and Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni on Tuesday announced her candidacy in Israel’s Jan. 22 general elections, unveiling her new party Hatnuah (“The Movement”), Israel Hayom reported.

Livni reportedly delayed launching her new party until after hostilities with Hamas in Gaza had ceased.

“It was difficult for me to return to politics,” Livni told a packed roomful of reporters at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “I came to fight for our shared vision; to fight for peace. I will not lend a hand to those who are trying to turn the word ‘peace’ into a bad word. I came to fight for Jewish Israel, for democratic Israel. I came to fight against social gaps.”

Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich, who had asked Livni to join the party but was rejected, issued a statement saying: “Tzipi Livni, who is a worthy woman and politician, is making a terrible mistake. She is establishing a party of double refugees and giving Netanyahu and [Avigdor] Lieberman a reason to smile. Instead of focusing on their [Likud-Beytenu] ultra-extreme Knesset list, now we’re focusing on the fact that there is another little party in the Center.”