Arab Democratic Party (Israel)

The Arab Democratic Party (Hebrew: מפלגה דמוקרטית ערבית‎, Miflaga Demokratit Aravit; Arabic: ألحزب الديمقراطي العربي‎, al-Hizb al-Dimuqrati al-Arabi) commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acroynym Mada (Hebrew: 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

מפלגה דמוקרטית ערבית‎
ألحزب الديمقراطي العربي
LeaderTaleb el-Sana
Abdulwahab Darawshe
Founded15 February 1988
Split fromAlignment
IdeologyIsraeli Arab interest
AllianceUnited Arab List (1996–2012)
Arab List (2015)
Most MKs2 (1992)
Fewest MKs1
Current MKs
0 / 120
Election symbol
עם‎

Background

The party was formed on 15 February 1988, 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.

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