| Kadima |
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| The establishment of the centrist Kadima by Ariel Sharon in late 2005 marked a long-anticipated 'big bang' in Israeli politics. |
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| Labor |
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| Since the election of Amir Peretz, Labor has gone through its most dramatic transformation in more than a decade. |
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| Likud |
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| Just as the Likud was gearing up for the elections, Ariel Sharon announced that he was leaving to establish a new party. |
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| Shinui |
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| The Shinui party is facing the very real possibility of failing to win any seats at all in the next Knesset elections. |
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| Meretz-Yahad |
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| After a substantial loss of seats in 2003, Meretz underwent an image change and emerged as Meretz-Yahad. |
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| National Union |
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| The far right National Union found itself out of government in 2005, fired by Sharon over its opposition to the pullout. |
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| United Arab List |
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| Once the largest Arab list, Ra'am now has only two MKs, party leader Abdulmalik Dehamshe and Taleb A-Sana. |
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| Hadash-Ta'al |
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| A lineal descendant of the old Israeli Communist Party, Hadash was originally a mixed Jewish-Arab party. |
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| Balad |
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| The most vocally radical of the Arab parties, Balad is headed by Azmi Bishara, who founded the party in 1995. |
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| National Religious Party |
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| The NRP supports the principle of 'Greater Israel,' and opposes any withdrawals in the territories. |
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| Shas |
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| The party wants to see the religious status quo maintained, but aspires to expand religious legislation. |
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| United Torah Judaism |
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| UTJ is an alliance of several wings of Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodoxy, which it aims to represent in the halls of power. |
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