Külügyi Szemle - A Teleki László Intézet Külpolitikai Tanulmányok Központja folyóirata - 2003 (2. évfolyam)
2003 / 1. szám - KÖZEL-KELET - Gazdik Gyula: The evolution of the Israeli party system
Gyula Gazdik the main demands of the party concerned the creation of a Palestinian State. The Arab Democratic Party / ADP/ established in the spring of 1988 became the first Arab ethnic party to participated in the Knesset. The party had been created following the brutal suppression of the Palestinian Intifada in the previous year, which prompted a group of Palestinian deputies to form their own permanent and independent parliamentary caucus. The unification of the Israeli Arab forces to apply pressure on the government to settle the situation in the Middle East became a major target of the party. At the onset, the party had only a negligible presence in parliament. Prior to the 1996 elections the party formed a joint list with the Islamic Movement /United Arab List, UAL, Ra'am/, which fared better in the two subsequent elections than the ADP. Prior to the latest elections, the list did not include any Druze or Christian candidates. The increased support for the UAL may be explained, on the one hand by the fact that some Hadash supporters had voted for them in 1999 coupled with the increased influence of fundamentalism on the Israeli Arabs on the other hand. The UAL - similarly to the Shas - gained support as a result of the numerous social services it had established to help the disadvantaged Arab communities. Ethnic parties, blocs Number of Mandates Election Year 1949 1951 1955 1959 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1984 1988 1992 1996 1900 Arab /Joint list with the socialists / 2 5 3544441 United Arab List 1* 2* 4 5 Balad 2 Russian Yisrael B'Aliya 7 6 Yisrael Beitenu 4 Others The Third Way 4 One Nation 1 ^Mandates of the Arab Democratic Party Likewise, the National Democratic Alliance /Balad/ had been established by the Arab intellectual elite prior to the 1996 elections, which had seceded from Hadash. The Azmi Bishra-led party sought cultural autonomy and equal citizenry rights for the Palestinians. It also advocated that Israel should cease to be a Jewish state and become the „country of all its citizens" as the only way to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. The party competed on a joint ticket with Hadash in the 1996 elections, and three years later entered on an independent list, yet on both occasions gained only two mandates.25 During the past decades, approximately one third of eligible Israeli Arabs have voted 50 Külügyi Szemle
