Israel Beiteinu ("Israel Is Our Home," in Hebrew)
ISRAEL BEITEINU ("Israel is our home," in Hebrew)
Israeli political party of the right, founded on 3 January 1999 by Avigdor Lieberman, former chief of staff of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Constituted for the scheduled Knesset elections of the following 17 May, the party proposed rallying the votes of Russian immigrants to Israel to Benjamin Netanyahu, taking some that would have gone to Israel be-Aliyah. This ultranationalist grouping advocated a "Greater Israel," with a "strong" government. On 18 May, as a result of the ballot, it won four seats in the Knesset, while the head of the Israel Labor Party, Ehud Barak, was elected prime minister.
On 7 March, 2001, Avigdor Lieberman became minister of infrastructure in the government of Ariel Sharon, head of Likud. Israel Beiteinu formed a coalition—the National Union—with two other right-wing parties: Moledet and Tekumah. The National Union advocates the voluntary transfer of Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza to other Arab countries, and it opposes concessions to the Palestinian Authority and the creation of a Palestinian state. In the 2003 elections the National Union received 5.5 percent of the vote and won seven seats in the Knesset.
SEE ALSO Greater Israel;Lieberman, Avigdor;Netanyahu, Benjamin;Sharon, Ariel.