National Union Party
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The National Union Party Israel (Ha ihud Haleumi)
The Israeli political party, the National Union party was formed in 1999 by Rehavam Zeevi, the leader of the Rightwing Moledet (Homeland party) in alliance with the Tekuma and Yisrael Beitenu parties. Yisrael Beitenu was led by Avigdor Lieberman, former secretary to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (1996-1999). Lieberman emigrated to Israel from the (former) Soviet Union in the early 1980s and became leader of the party in 2002 following the assassination of Rehavam Zeevi (the Israeli tourism minister) by PFLP in the Hyatt hotel in Jerusalem. The National Union party sees it objective to "become a ruling party in association with other parties that share the values and ideology of the national camp, i.e. the realization of Zionist goals, and respect for the heritage and values of the Jewish people." The party is made up of both secular and religious Jews, with current deputy leader Benny Elon receiving training as a Rabbi, while its Russian component (Yisrael Beitenu) is largely secular.
The National Union pledges that another political entity besides Israel "will not rise between Jordan and the sea." It also states as an objective that "the funds which were being transferred to the Palestinian Authority by the Israeli government, will henceforth be used for reparations for the damage Israel has suffered during the period of terror." The National Union agenda states that it" seeks true peace based on agreement between the parties (Israel and the Arabs)." The National Union recognises that within the framework of any agreement, it is necessary to solve the Palestinian Arab refugee problem-- refugees who have spent the past 55 years in refugee camps. These refugees were created by the Arab states when they initiated wars against Israel both in 1948(War of Independence) and 1967 (Six Day war) with the objective of destroying the Jewish state.
The National Union's proposed solution is "transfer by agreement (population exchange) by which the refugees would be settled in Arab countries in place of Jews who emigrated to Israel from these countries." Approximately 1 million Jews emigrated to Israel from the Arab world in the period 1948-1968 and today they constitute (inclusive of their descendants) 2.7 million Israeli citizens. The National Union seeks to bring attention to the plight of the Jewish refugees from the Arab world and sees the Arab states as responsible for the refugee problem "both Jewish and Arab".
The party won 7 out of the 120 seats in the 16th Knesset (Israeli parliament) in the elections held in January 2003.
Links
[1] (http://www.leumi.org.il/en/index.html)
[2] (http://www.moledet.org/peace.html)