 Like other Israeli Arab parties at the time, it was associated with David Ben-Gurion's Mapai party, as Ben-Gurion was keen to include Israeli Arabs in the functioning of the state in order to prove Jews and Arabs could co-exist peacefully and productively.In the 1959 elections, the party won 1.3% of the votes and two seats, making it the most popular Israeli Arab party in the Knesset.Its seats were taken by Ahmed A-Dahar and Elias Nakhleh.