Hadash

Hadash (חד״ש), an acronym for HaHazit HaDemokratit LeShalom uLeShivion (הַחֲזִית הַדֶּמוֹקְרָטִית לְשָׁלוֹם וּלְשִׁוְיוֹן; al-Jabhah ad-Dimuqrāṭiyyah lis-Salām wa'l-Musāwah, abbr. الجبهة) is a left to far-left political coalition in Israel formed by the Israeli Communist Party and other leftist groups. The party was formed on 15 March 1977 when the Rakah and Non-Partisans parliamentary group changed its name to Hadash in preparation for the 1977 elections. The non-partisans included some members of the Black Panthers (several others joined the Left Camp of Israel) and other left-wing non-communist groups. Within the Hadash movement, Rakah (which was renamed Maki, a Hebrew acronym for Israeli Communist Party, in 1989) has retained its independent status. In its first electoral test, Hadash won five seats, an increase of one on Rakah's previous four. However, in the next elections in 1981 the party was reduced to four seats. It maintained its four seats in the 1984 elections, gaining another MK when Mohammed Wattad defected from Mapam in 1988. The 1988 election resulted in another four-seat haul, though the party lost a seat when Charlie Biton broke away to establish Black Panthers as an independent faction on 25 December 1990. The 1992 elections saw the party remain at three seats. In the 1996 elections the party ran a joint list with Balad. Together they won five seats, but split during the Knesset term, with Hadash reduced to three seats. The 1999 elections saw them maintain three seats, with Barakeh and Issam Makhoul replacing Ahmad Sa'd and Saleh Saleem. In the 2003 elections Hadash ran on another joint list, this time with Ahmed Tibi's Ta'al. The list won three seats, but again split during the parliamentary session, leaving Hadash with two MKs, Barakeh and Makhoul. In the 2006 elections Hadash won three seats, with Hana Sweid and Dov Khenin entering the Knesset alongside Barakeh. The party won an additional seat in the 2009 elections, taken by Afu Agbaria. In January 2015, former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg joined Hadash.