The party was formed on 7 March 1996 towards the end of the
thirteenth Knesset's term when two MKs,
Avigdor Kahalani and
Emanuel Zisman, broke away from the
Labour Party. Kahalani and Zisman disagreed with the party's willingness to entertain the idea of withdrawing from the
Golan Heights in return for peace with
Syria. While the party objected to withdrawal from the Golan Heights and took a hawkish position as to Lebanon, it held more moderate views on the peace process. The party ran in the
1996 elections and won 96,457 votes. This gave them four seats, with
Yehuda Harel and Professor
Alexander Lubotzky joining Kahalani and Zisman in the
Knesset. They were invited to join
Netanyahu's
Likud-led government and Kahalani was appointed
Minister of Internal Security. On 23 March 1999, Zisman left the party to sit as an independent. ==Leaders==