Progress and Development

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
Progress and Development was established in 1959,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> drawing its support from the <a href="/facts/Galilee/4qgALq4a">Galilee</a> area.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> Like other Israeli Arab parties at the time, it was associated with <a href="/facts/David_Ben-Gurion/QVytuG6W">David Ben-Gurion</a>'s <a href="/facts/Mapai/KC7HU7xY">Mapai</a> party, as Ben-Gurion was keen to include Israeli Arabs in the functioning of the state in order to prove <a href="/facts/Jew/T9Y4wE6A">Jews</a> and <a href="/facts/Arab/E77duPsg">Arabs</a> could co-exist peacefully and productively.
In the <a href="/facts/1959_Israeli_legislative_election/j9blrQ56">1959 elections</a>, the party won 1.3% of the votes and two seats, making it the most popular Israeli Arab party in the <a href="/facts/Knesset/vNAUyDAu">Knesset</a>. Its seats were taken by <a href="/facts/Ahmed_A-Dahar/p4LTj7t1">Ahmed A-Dahar</a> and <a href="/facts/Elias_Nakhleh/be98bAmv">Elias Nakhleh</a>. Because of its association with <a href="/facts/Mapai/KC7HU7xY">Mapai</a>, the party joined the governing coalition.
In the <a href="/facts/1961_Israeli_legislative_election/MKnsWlcN">1961 elections</a> the party increased its share of the vote to 1.6%, though it was overtaken as the most popular Israeli Arab party by <a href="/facts/Cooperation_and_Brotherhood/YBGy2hbD">Cooperation and Brotherhood</a>, who won 1.9% of the vote. Despite its increased vote, the party still won only two seats, retained by A-Dahar and Nakhleh, and was again part of all three coalition governments during the fifth Knesset.
In the <a href="/facts/1965_Israeli_legislative_election/4Uxyjjqt">1965 elections</a> the party increased its share of the vote again, to 1.9%, overtaking Cooperation and Brotherhood to regain its place as the most popular Israeli Arab party. It joined <a href="/facts/Levi_Eshkol/cMlwlUql">Levi Eshkol</a>'s coalition government, and A-Dahar was replaced by <a href="/facts/Seif-El-Din_El-Zubi/Y3B3yD5N">Seif-El-Din El-Zubi</a>, previously an MK for the <a href="/facts/Democratic_List_of_Nazareth/R4Pvv4d3">Democratic List of Nazareth</a> (in the <a href="/facts/1949_Israeli_legislative_election/JV6YynNF">first Knesset</a>) and the <a href="/facts/Democratic_List_for_Israeli_Arabs/VwDacP7f">Democratic List for Israeli Arabs</a> (in the <a href="/facts/1951_Israeli_legislative_election/Cq6o0g3W">second</a> and <a href="/facts/1955_Israeli_legislative_election/QepHnQy1">third Knessets</a>). During the Knesset session the party briefly merged with Cooperation and Brotherhood to form <a href="/facts/Cooperation_and_Development/tQhK3WCT">Cooperation and Development</a>, though the union split up soon after its formation. In October 1968 Nakhleh broke away from the party to form the <a href="/facts/Jewish%25E2%2580%2593Arab_Brotherhood/YSA1P57T">Jewish–Arab Brotherhood</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> though he was elected to the next Knesset as a member of Cooperation and Brotherhood.
The <a href="/facts/1969_Israeli_legislative_election/ndJSwonk">1969 elections</a> saw a further increase in popularity to 2.1% of the vote, though it still won only two seats. <a href="/facts/Jabr_Muadi/GMIXM80S">Jabr Muadi</a> (a former Democratic List for Israeli Arabs MK who had broken away from Cooperation and Brotherhood to form the <a href="/facts/Druze_Party/wMNQoNfA">Druze Party</a> after Cooperation and Development had broken up, effectively swapping parties with Nahale) took the second seat, and the party was included in <a href="/facts/Golda_Meir/SJWUyDUP">Golda Meir</a>'s coalition government. Muadi was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications in October 1971, making him only the second Israeli Arab to join the <a href="/facts/Cabinet_of_Israel/g3azkmGs">cabinet</a>.
In the <a href="/facts/1973_Israeli_legislative_election/eDyFBrIh">1973 elections</a> the party won only 1.4% of the vote, though it retained its two seats. Although it was excluded from Golda Meir's government despite still being aligned with the <a href="/facts/Labor_Party_(Israel)/IPRaxRwR">Labour Party</a>, after she resigned and <a href="/facts/Yitzhak_Rabin/Wvd6myha">Yitzhak Rabin</a> formed the <a href="/facts/Seventeenth_government_of_Israel/3hy8ocSx">17th government</a>, the party was invited back into the governing coalition and Muadi regained his deputy ministerial position.
During the Knesset session the party briefly became part of the <a href="/facts/Alignment_(political_party)/wanf3eGP">Alignment</a> before merging with the <a href="/facts/Arab_List_for_Bedouins_and_Villagers/uKYo3mds">Arab List for Bedouins and Villagers</a> to form the <a href="/facts/United_Arab_List_(1977)/DjBSu5Sw">United Arab List</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=63">Party history</a> Knesset website</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Progress and Development Israel Democracy Institute <a href="http://en.idi.org.il/tools-and-data/israeli-elections-and-parties/political-parties/progress-and-development/" target="_blank">http://en.idi.org.il/tools-and-data/israeli-elections-and-parties/political-parties/progress-and-development/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Ervin Birnbaum (1970). The Politics of Compromise: State and Religion in Israel. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0838675670. <a href="978-0838675670" target="_blank">978-0838675670</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups Knesset website <a href="https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionHistoryAll_eng.asp" target="_blank">https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionHistoryAll_eng.asp</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Kidma Vepituah Knesset website <a href="https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=63" target="_blank">https://www.knesset.gov.il/faction/eng/FactionPage_eng.asp?PG=63</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Progress and Development open-in-new

Progress and Development