Rehavam Zeevi was head of National Union until he was murdered
National Union
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National Union is a political party opposed to relinquishing any land or the creation of any Palestinian political entity between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
National Union was formed in 1999 when the late Rehavam Zeevi, founder of the Moledet faction, merged his party with Herut (“freedom”) and Tekuma (“resurrection”). On October 17, 2001, Zeevi, minister of tourism at the time, was assassinated by Palestinian gunmen in a Jerusalem hotel near Hebrew University, in the capital's eastern sector.
In 2000, Herut left the faction and was replaced by Yisrael Beiteinu (“Israel our home”), which was headed by Avigdor Lieberman and has considerable support among Russian immigrants.
According to the party web site, National Union calls for solving the Palestinian refugee problem by means of “transfer by agreement (population exchange) by which the refugees would be settled in Arab countries in place of Jews who emigrated to Israel from these countries.”
In its platform the party calls for requiring every Arab citizen of Israel to swear allegiance to the Israeli flag, national anthem and laws. It also calls for codifying the “Jewish and Zionist character and democratic principles of the State of Israel in a written constitution that will define basic civil responsibilities and rights.”
The party won seven Knesset seats in the 2003 elections and is currently the fifth largest faction. Rabbi Benjamin Elon is current chairman.
