Immigrant Parties
In the early Knessets the Progressive Party was the outgrowth of a party of new immigrants from Central Europe. It united with the General Zionists to form the Liberal Party in 1961, but after most of the former General Zionists decided to join the Gahal bloc with the Herut Movement in 1965, it formed the Independent Liberal Party.

It was only before the elections to the 14th Knesset (1996) that two new parties representing immigrants from the former Soviet Union were founded: Yisrael Ba'aliya, headed by former Prisoner of Zion (and today Industry and Trade Minister) Natan Sharansky, and Yi'ud, headed by Georgian-born Ephraim Gur, who had originally been elected to the 12th Knesset on the Labor Party list and defected to the Likud.

Gur's party did not pass the qualifying threshold, while Yisrael Ba'aliya won seven seats in the 14th Knesset. In the elections to the 15th Knesset at least two immigrant parties will be running: Yisrael Ba'aliya and the new Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by the former director-general of the Prime Minister's Office, Avigdor Lieberman.