The fuel injector includes a solid state actuator that operates through an actuator motion amplifying lever to directly control the needle valve motion. Hydraulic forces, which act along the axes of the needle valve and the motion amplifying lever, are compensated by using a control piston, or other biasing means, to reduce the required amplitude of the control current/voltage and to reduce the required strength of the spring biasing the needle valve closed. The fuel injector may also include a control fuel inlet that is separate from the injection fuel inlet port.