[16] Relatively close in ideology to Yesh Atid and the Labor Party, which focused mostly on domestic and socioeconomic issues in their 2013 campaigns, Hatnua stood out for its aggressive push for a pragmatic peace settlement with the Palestinians.

[18] Hatnua's 2013 platform emphasized Arab–Israeli peace, social justice, environmental protection, the integration of all citizens into the military and workforce, and religious pluralism.

[19] In the 2015 legislative election, it ran on a joint electoral list with the Labor Party called the Zionist Union, which became the second-largest parliamentary group.

[21] Following months of speculation, Livni announced the establishment of Hatnua at a press conference in Tel Aviv on 27 November 2012, describing it as a "liberal, secular, and democratic party," with "room for the very best of Likud" and Labor.

In her announcement, Livni cited the need for the party after the government had entered into ceasefire negotiations with Hamas while peace talks with the Palestinian Authority were not occurring.

In addition, Livni pledged to push for military conscription of the ultra-Orthodox and to promote social justice initiatives for Israel's youth, noting that the then-recent Likud primaries only strengthened the party's hard-right faction.

[25] Following its establishment, Ynetnews published a poll on 30 November 2011 showing Livni to be more favored than Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich, and overall the strongest candidate for Prime Minister against the incumbent, Netanyahu.

[8] The party campaigned almost exclusively on foreign policy issues, pushing for renewed peace talks with the Palestinians and preserving support from the international community,[29][8] especially the United States.

It was in favor of a differential value added tax as well as canceling existing subsidies for West Bank settlements and ultra-Orthodox sectoral interests while increasing the fees charged for the mining of natural resources.

Hatnua MK Elazar Stern, whose long-running work on the matter also formed Yesh Atid's position thereon, sought to stiffen sanctions against yeshivas that fail to meet conscription targets.

Many of the changes Peretz led involved minority or periphery communities, such as ongoing efforts to bring waste infrastructure to Arab towns and Bedouin villages, in particular.

Other accomplishment involved the government approval of a NIS 45 million budget for addressing environmental deficiencies for residents of the south and the eradication of free plastic bags from grocery stores.

[72] On 2 December 2014, Netanyahu fired Livni from her cabinet portfolio, accusing her and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid then Minister of Finance, of conspiring to bring down the governing coalition in a "putsch".

[73] The following week, Hatnua agreed to run on a joint list with the opposition Labor Party in the ensuing March 2015 election, with Livni alleging that Likud had been taken over by right-wing extremists.

If the joint list wins the election and is able to form a government, under the agreement, the position of Prime Minister would rotate between Livni and Labor leader Isaac Herzog.

Spots 8, 16, 21, 24, 25, and 28 were also reserved for Hatnua members, going, in order, to Peretz, former Kadima MK and Livni ally Yoel Hasson, Channel 9 journalist and analyst on Arab affairs Ksenia Svetlova, Maj. Gen.