A right-wing political party headed by former Likud member of the Knesset and cabinet minister Ze'ev Binyamin Begin that competed for the first time in the May 1999 election for the Knesset as part of the National Union coalition. Emerging in late 1998, it was comprised primarily of former Likud politicians, such as Begin, who had become disenchanted with either the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu or the decision of the Netanyahu-led governing coalition to agree to significant territorial concessions in the Hebron agreement of January 1997 and the Wye River Memorandum of 23 October 1998. As part of the right-wing NU list, New Herut won four seats in the 15th Knesset (1999) and seven seats in the 16th Knesset (2003). It took nine seats in the 17th Knesset (2006) as part of the National Religious Party electoral coalition.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..