Ta'al

For a military rank, see Aluf.

The Arab Movement for Renewal, commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Ta'al,^[a] is an anti-Zionist Arab nationalist political party in Israel, led by Ahmad Tibi.

Ta'al תע״ל‎ • الحركة العربية للتغيير
Hebrew name	תנועה ערבית להתחדשות‎
Arabic name	الحركة العربية للتغيير
Leader	Ahmad Tibi
Ideology	Arab nationalism[5] Israeli Arab interests[6] Anti-Zionism[12] Secularism
Political position	Big tent[16]
National affiliation	Balad (1999) United Arab List (2006–2013) Joint List (2015–2019; 2019–2021; 2021–2022)
Knesset	1 / 120
Most MKs	3 (2020)
Election symbol
נ‎
Website
a-m-c.org (Archived)
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

History

Ta'al was founded by Tibi in the run-up to the 1996 elections where it ran under its original name, Arab Union, but received only 2,087 votes (0.1%). Since then, the party has only run on joint lists with other parties. For the 1999 elections it ran as part of the Balad list. Tibi won a seat, and broke away from Balad on 21 December that year. In the 2003 elections the party ran on a joint list with Hadash, with Tibi retaining his seat.^[17]

On 7 February 2006 Tibi left the alliance with Hadash. For the 2006 elections the party ran on a joint list with the United Arab List, running as Ra'am–Ta'al (Ra'am is the Hebrew acronym for the UAL). On 12 January 2009, the Ra'am–Ta'al list was disqualified from the 2009 elections by the Central Elections Committee. Twenty-one committee members voted in favor of its disqualification, with eight members voting against and two members abstaining. Tibi said the decision was related to Operation Cast Lead, claiming "this is a racist country. We are accustomed to these types of struggles and we will win" and that "this decision strives for a Knesset without Arabs that will only lead to the increased solidarity between the Arab public and its leadership". He said he would appeal to the Israeli High Court of Justice.^[18] On 21 January the High Court of Justice overturned the Committee's decision unanimously. Tibi welcomed the decision and said: "We have beaten fascism. This fight is over but the battle is not. Racism has become a trend in Israel ... the court's decision has righted a wrong by Kadima and Labor".^[19] The list won four seats, with Tibi retaining his place in the Knesset.

The party was part of the Joint List in the 2015 election, before it withdrew in January 2019,^[20] though it decided to rejoin the alliance for the September 2019 election^[21] and ran as part of it in the 2020 election as well.^[22] It left the alliance again on 28 January 2021,^[23] until it rejoined once again on 3 February.^[24]

Ideology

Ta'al supports an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 green lines and a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state established alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Ta'al has been often described as secular.^[25][26][27] Despite this the party was an ally of the Islamist United Arab List (Ra'am) and ran on their list between 2006 and 2015. Additionally their leader Tibi has been heavily criticized for homophobic comments in 2019.^[28] Tibi is a Muslim himself.^[29]

The party is described as (Arab) nationalist^[26][27] but more moderate compared to Balad.^[30]

Election results

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Status
1996	Ahmad Tibi	2,087	0.07 (#19)	0 / 120		Extraparliamentary
1999		Part of Balad		1 / 120	1	Opposition
2003		With Hadash[b]		1 / 120		Opposition
2006		With Ra'am		1 / 120		Opposition
2009				1 / 120		Opposition
2013				1 / 120		Opposition
2015		Part of the Joint List		1 / 120		Opposition
Apr 2019		With Hadash[b]		2 / 120	1	Snap election
Sep 2019		Part of the Joint List		2 / 120		Snap election
2020				3 / 120	1	Opposition
2021				2 / 120	1	Opposition
2022		With Hadash[b]		1 / 120	1	Opposition

Notes

1. Ta'al is a Hebrew abbreviation for Tnua Aravit LeHithadshut Hebrew: תְּנוּעָה עֲרָבִית לְהִתְחַדְּשׁוּת, lit. 'Arab Movement for Renewal'. Its Arabic name is al-Haraka al-'Arabiyya li-t-Tagyir (Arabic: الحركة العربية للتغيير, lit. 'Arab Movement for Change')
2. Hadash-Ta'al