She said that Israelis are not debating the true issue - that the state's minority will impose its will on the Zionist majority.

Due to a fear of opening this debate, she stated, "we are in danger of waking up one morning" to a different type of state.

Traditionally, the conference is the venue for addresses by top politicians and policymakers in Israel and abroad.

Livni went on: "The worst part is that the Zionist majority, which talks about threats from outside and also about reaching an agreement with the Palestinians, is disappearing.

"We are left with a small window of opportunity to make decisions and create a vision that represents the essence of Zionism."

Differentiating between two groups, she explained that in Israel there exist two visions for the state, that are entirely different to each other.

One of these states is a "national home for a Jewish nation . . . where citizens are equal, a Jewish state that respects all its citizens, all streams of Judaism, where anyone can exercise their Jewishness with the under-standing that Israel is a state of law".

This type of state, she added, is part of the free world, and is not isolated.

The Kadima leader declared that the majority in Israel shares this dream, but she accused it of "not wanting to decide". She blamed this indecision on the political leadership's "petty considerations and fear".

Presenting the other side of the coin, she described a theocratic, withdrawn and isolated state, where women "in the best case scenario" sit at the back of the bus, where some serve in the army and work while the rest do not.

This, she went on to say, is "another country which is some kind of improved ghetto" and the "source of authority is the rabbis and not the court".

Livni emphasised that she was taking issue not with those who lie at the other end of the spectrum, but with the side of politics that represents the majority view and fails to take action and make decisions.