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Segalovich joins Ra'am
Former Israeli police officer Yoav Segalovich joined Mansour Abbas’s United Arab List to contest the Knesset elections scheduled for October 27, in a move described as unprecedented in Israel.
“Yoav Segalovich has joined his ranks to contest the upcoming Knesset elections on October 27”
Abbas announced the step at a joint press conference in Nazareth on Monday evening, and Segalovich said, "There is a complex history between Arabs and Jews in this country, but we share a common future that encompasses all aspects of life."
The announcement came as polls gave the United Arab List between 5 and 6 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, and the reports said Segalovich would occupy the second position on the party list without formally joining its membership.
Before entering politics, Segalovich spent decades in the Israeli police, serving as head of investigations and intelligence until his retirement in 2013, and he was elected to the Knesset in 2019.
Two years later, he was appointed deputy minister of national security in coalition governments led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, while Abbas had previously extended unprecedented support to those governments, securing a five-year plan worth billions of shekels to support 48 Palestinians in Israel.
Reactions and rival claims
The Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responded to the announcement by saying, "Even Segalovich cannot hide the fact that Mansour Abbas refuses to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations and pushes toward the establishment of a Palestinian state."
In contrast, the opposition welcomed the move, with Knesset member Ghalaad Cariev writing on X on Monday, "I wish success to two brave people I am proud to call friends: Yoav Segalovich and Mansour Abbas."
The Anadolu Ajansı report said the accession generated a wave of reactions ranging from welcome from the opposition to condemnation from Netanyahu’s coalition, and it described the step as the first time a Jewish deputy has joined the list aligned with the southern wing of the Islamic movement led by Abbas.
Anadolu Ajansı also noted that it is not the first time a Jewish deputy has run in an Arab list, citing Deputy Oofer Kasif as a member of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality.
In the same Anadolu Ajansı account, Abbas said at the joint press conference, "Today we face elections, and the question before our people is clear: Do we return to the place of decision or to the opposition benches?"
What it could change
Multiple reports framed the move as a potential shift in coalition math, with Al-Jazeera Net saying the United List may find itself in the kingmaker position because neither Netanyahu’s camp nor the opposition can predict a clear absolute majority in the election scheduled for October 27.
“the United List may find itself in the kingmaker position”
Al-Jazeera Net also said most Jewish parties still view cooperation with Arab parties representing 48 Palestinians as taboo, while Segalovich’s candidacy could help break this barrier and lower those political thresholds.
Europa Press reported that Abbas defended the priority of the formation as eradicating crime and violence against innocent civilians, and he said the only way to achieve that is to create alliances and "see the other as a human being, not as an enemy," according to The Times of Israel.
Europa Press added that Segalovitz said he is guided by Zionist and Jewish values and argued that "it is possible to cooperate politically based on trust, recognition of differences, and commitment to joint action."
The same set of reports said Segalovich would not join the Likud party but would run on its list within a technical alliance, while maintaining his freedom of action in the Knesset as Likud would not modify its constitution or decision-making processes.