Development and Peace ( he, פיתוח ושלום, ''Pituah VeShalom''), originally known as Flatto-Sharon (Hebrew: פלאטו שרון) was a

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

one-man

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Background

The party was founded after Shmuel Flatto-Sharon had fled to Israel from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in 1976 after being charged with embezzling $60 million. In order to prevent his extradition, which France had requested, and despite hardly speaking Hebrew, he decided to run in the 1977 Knesset elections, hoping to gain parliamentary immunity. Named after himself, Flatto-Sharon's party ran on right-wing populism (he was a supporter of the

Gush Emunim Gush Emunim ( he, גּוּשׁ אֱמוּנִים , ''Bloc of the Faithful'') was an Israeli ultranationalist Orthodox Jewish right-wing activist movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Gola ...

settlement movement) and promises to provide apartments to young voters. The new party won 2% of the vote, enough for two seats. However, as it was a one-man list, only one seat was taken. It has been suggested that the surprising level of support that the party won was a response to France's refusal to extradite

Abu Daoud Mohammad Daoud Oudeh ( ar, محمد داود عودة), commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Daoud or Abu Dawud ( ar, أبو داود) (1937 - 3 July 2010) was a Palestinian militant, teacher and lawyer known as the planner, architect and ma ...

, who was wanted in Israel for the murder of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich. Once ensconced in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

, Flatto-Sharon joined

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

's coalition, with one of his first acts being to vote in favour of a law that prohibited the extradition of Israeli citizens. Later during the Knesset session he renamed the party ''Development and Peace'' and also helped in negotiations to free Israeli

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

. However, after serving for two years, Flatto-Sharon was convicted of vote buying, sentenced to nine months in prison and suspended from the Knesset. After several appeals, he was finally jailed for three months in 1984. The party ran in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

and

1984 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1984. Africa * 1984 Beninese parliamentary election * 1984 Botswana general election * 1984 Burundian presidential election * 1984 Cameroonian presidential election * 1984 Comorian presidential electi ...

, but did not pass the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

of 1% in either, and subsequently disappeared. Flatto-Sharon was never extradited to France to serve the five-year sentence given to him in his absence, as the five-year statute of limitations had expired. He was an established businessman and

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The ...

until his death in 2018.

References

External links

Flatto-Sharon
Knesset website
Development and Peace
Knesset website {{Israeli political parties Defunct political parties in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel