Ta'al

Ta'al (Hebrew: תַּעַ"ל, an acronym for Tnu'a Aravit LeHithadshut (Hebrew: תְּנוּעָה עֲרָבִית לְהִתְחַדְּשׁוּת), lit. Arab Movement for Renewal, Arabic: الحركة العربية للتغيير‎) is an Israeli Arab political party in Israel led by Ahmad Tibi. The party was part of the Joint List in the 2015 election.

History

Ta'al was founded by Tibi in the mid 1990s. It ran in the 1996 elections under the name Arab Union, but won only 2,087 votes (0.1%). 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.

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. 21 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. 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". The list won four seats, with Tibi retaining his place in the Knesset.