# Hadash–Ta'al

Hadash–Ta'al (Arabic: حداش–جبهة, Hebrew: חד״ש־תע״ל) is a joint electoral list in Israel, composed of two political parties, Hadash and Ta'al. The list was established for the first time in 2003 for the election to the 16th Knesset, and ran again in the elections of April 2019 and 2022.

## History

Hadash–Ta'al ran in the 2003 legislative election and won three seats. In the 2006 legislative election, Hadash ran independently in the 2006 legislative election, while Ta'al ran as part of the Ra'am-Ta'al list.
In the 20th Knesset, the parties were part of the Joint List faction. Ahead of the April 2019 legislative election, Ta'al split from the faction, but finally Hadash and Ta'al united once more. At the head of the list was Hadash chairman Ayman Odeh, and Ta'al's chairman Ahmad Tibi was in second place. On March 6, 2019, the Central Elections Committee for the 21st Knesset decided to disqualify the list candidate Ofer Cassif, contrary to the position of the Attorney General. The Supreme Court overturned the disqualification.
In the April 2019 legislative election, Hadash–Ta'al won 193,442 votes, six seats in the Knesset. For the next election, the two parties returned to the Joint List. Ahead of the 2022 legislative election, the Joint List broke up again when Balad decided to submit a separate list from the other parties that were members of the Joint List, and therefore Hadash and Ta'al reached an agreement to run jointly, with Hadash chairman Ayman Odeh in first place, and Ta'al leader Ahmad Tibi in second.

## Politics and ideology

The Hadash–Ta'al alliance includes elements of communism, secularism and Arab nationalism. Both Hadash and Ta'al have expressed support for a two state solution based on the 1967 borders. At the same time, some members of the alliance have rejected the existence of the State of Israel. Hadash–Ta'al leader Ayman Odeh refused to be pictured in front of the State of Israel's official seal and flags, and Hadash has labeled its ideology as "non-Zionist".
Odeh has frequently expressed support for Palestinian violence, stating that violent actions committed by Palestinians during the First Intifada were "fully justified" and that he does not put red lines on the Arab Palestinian nation. In 2024, Odeh described Latifa Abu-Hamid, the mother of several convicted terrorists, as a heroine, calling her "the mother of heroes." Odeh has previously refused to condemn Hezbollah as a terror group, instead denouncing Israeli occupation as the source of terrorism in the region.
Members of the Hadash–Ta'al alliance have faced public criticism for statements made during the Israel-Hamas war. MK Aida Touma-Sliman refused to watch the raw footage screened by the Knesset of Hamas's October 7th attack, and claimed that Hamas did not slaughter babies or rape women. In November 2024, the Knesset Ethics Committee voted unanimously to suspend MK Ofer Cassif from the Knesset for six months due to some comments he made during the war. Cassif has called Palestinians fighting the IDF in Jenin "freedom fighters", publicly accused Israeli leaders of advocating for crimes against humanity against Palestinians, and signed a petition in support of South Africa's genocide case against Israel. Some Knesset members have also demanded that Odeh be expelled for saying he was happy about the release of Palestinian prisoners minutes after three Israeli hostages were returned home as part of the 2025 hostage-prisoner exchange deal.
The parties have also expressed hostility towards NATO and support for Russia. The Hadash-Ta'al-Balad alliance refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and boycotted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's address to the Knesset. Hadash–Ta'al leader Ayman Odeh accuse America and NATO of imposing the war on Ukraine.