Arab Democratic Party (Israel)

The Arab Democratic Party (Hebrew: מפלגה דמוקרטית ערבית, romanized: Miflaga Demokratit Aravit; Arabic: ألحزب الديمقراطي العربي, romanized: al-Hizb al-Dimuqrati al-Arabi), commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mada (מד"ע), is a political party in Israel. Between the mid-1990s and 2012 it was a faction within the United Arab List.

Arab Democratic Party
Leader	Taleb el-Sana Abdulwahab Darawshe Mohammed Darawshe
Founded	15 February 1988
Split from	Alignment
Ideology	Israeli Arab interests Two-state solution Non-Zionism[1]
National affiliation	United Arab List (1996–2012) Arab List (2015) Joint List (2021–2022)
Colours	Dark blue   Yellow   Dark green (until 2019)
Most MKs	2 (1992)
Fewest MKs	0
Current MKs	0 / 120
Election symbol
ע‎ (1988–1999; 2015–2019) עם‎ (1999–2015) ר‎ (2019–2021) צכ‎ (2021–)
Website
arabvoice.co.il
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

Background

The party was formed on 15 February 1988,^[2] towards the end of the term of the eleventh Knesset, when Abdulwahab Darawshe broke away from the Alignment to create his own faction in protest at the party's policy on the First Intifada. At the time of its founding, the party was the only solely Israeli Arab faction in the Knesset (although the Progressive List for Peace's only MK was an Israeli Arab, the party also had Jewish membership), and the first since the demise of the original United Arab List in the 1981 elections.

In the 1988 elections the party just crossed the electoral threshold of 1%, winning 1.2% of the vote and one seat, taken by Darawshe, and was again the only Israeli-Arab party to win a seat. The 1992 elections saw the party win two seats, though it remained the only Israeli Arab party with parliamentary representation. For the 1996 elections, the party ran in an alliance with the new United Arab List under the name Mada-Ra'am (the acronyms of each party). The alliance was successful, winning two seats. The party was also joined in the Knesset by a new Israeli Arab party, Balad, which had run in an alliance with Hadash. After the 1996 elections, the party became a faction within the United Arab List, a position it retained until Taleb el-Sana broke away from the United Arab List in December 2012.

The party contested the 2015 elections as part of the Arab List, an alliance with the Arab National Party headed by Muhamad Kanan. The alliance received just 4,301 votes (0.11%), failing to win a seat. It submitted a candidate list for the 2021 elections under the name Ma'an – Together for a New Era,^[3] although it later withdrew from the elections and endorsed the Joint List, which it also committed to joining.^[4]

Election results

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1988	Abdulwahab Darawshe	27,012	1.18 (#15)	1 / 120	–	Opposition
1992		40,788	1.56 (#10)	2 / 120	1	Opposition
1996		with Ra'am		2 / 120		Opposition
1999				2 / 120		Opposition
2003				1 / 120	1	Opposition
2006	Taleb el-Sana	with Ra'am and Ta'al		1 / 120		Opposition
2009				1 / 120		Opposition
2013	did not contest			0 / 120	1	Extra-parliamentary
2015	Mohammed Darawshe	part of the Arab List		0 / 120		Extra-parliamentary
Apr 2019				0 / 120		Extra-parliamentary
Sep 2019	did not contest			0 / 120		Extra-parliamentary
2020				0 / 120		Extra-parliamentary
2021	Mohammed Darawshe	253	0.01 (#35)	0 / 120		Extra-parliamentary
2022	did not contest			0 / 120		Extra-parliamentary

References

1. Guy Grossman; Devorah Manekin (7 June 2021). "An Islamist party is part of Israel's new coalition government. How did that happen?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
2. Cheryl A. Rubenberg, ed. (2010). Encyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Boulder, CO; London: Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 76. doi:10.1515/9781588269621. ISBN 978-1-58826-686-6.
3. Ma'an – Together for a New Era list Central Elections Committee
4. Gil Hoffman (16 March 2021). "Moderate Arab party quits election". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 March 2021.

External links

• Party history Knesset website
• Mada-Ra'am Knesset website