A political party formed in 1985 by Liberal Party members who left the Likud. Its leaders included former Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat and then Jewish Agency chairman Arye Leon Dulzin, as well as former minister and Knesset speaker Yitzhak Berman. Its political platform opposed the annexation of the Occupied Territories as well as the "binational state" that would result from such an annexation. It argued that Israel must be a Jewish and Zionist state and should be prepared to give up territories for peace. Jerusalem was not a matter for negotiation, and the party rejected the creation of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan. The party's platform also stressed the equality of all Israeli citizens regardless of religion, race, or sex. It became part of the Center-Shinui political bloc.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..