'We have work to do' - Jewish lawmaker announces plan to run with Arab party ahead of Israeli elections

Yoav Segalovitz, a Zionist, Jewish lawmaker, former high-ranking police official, and former member of the Yesh Atid party, announced Monday that he will be running with the Arab party Ra’am in the October 27 elections. 

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation and rumors that Segalovitz would join the party. 

Critically, despite some reporting in Hebrew media, Segalovitz and Ra’am party chief Mansour Abbas clarified that Segalovitz will not officially join the Ra’am party, but will instead run on their list, in the number two position, behind Abbas. 

That move allows Segalovitz to have freedom to vote according to his conscience on areas where he differs from Ra’am party positions. 

The two presented the move as an attempt to promote Jewish-Arab political partnership, despite the ideological gaps between them. 

Ra’am head Abbas pushed back against criticism of a Jewish politician running with an Arab party, saying the fight against crime in Arab society is a top priority for his party. 

“I've learned one thing in recent years - to create change, you need partnership, and you need to see the other person as a person and not as an enemy,” Abbas stated during the press conference announcing the partnership. 

“Ra'am is not afraid of partnership and Ra'am is not waiting,” Abbas said. “I am not looking for someone who is like me. I am looking for someone who knows how to do the job.” 

Abbas also praised Segalovitz’s service as a member of the Israel Police, who established the Lahav 433 special crime unit. Segalovitz was also commander in the Investigation and Intelligence Division, credited with reducing crime in Israeli Arab communities. 

Abbas referred to their cooperation in the previous government. 

“In the government of change, we met a partner,” Abbas stated. “A man who comes from the most professional place in this country when it comes to crime, and an officer who has stood up to criminals all his life without asking what their religion is. An honest, quiet man, who doesn't look for headlines. Yoav Segalovitch.” 

Crime-related deaths in the Arab sector have risen dramatically during the past five years, despite pledges by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to tackle the issue. 

During the period in which Segalovitz worked as deputy minister of public security in the previous government, there was a decrease in the number of homicides in the Arab sector. 

“Every Jewish citizen who listens to us - this crime does not stop when leaving the village. The weapon that fires today in Tamra will fire tomorrow in Afula. This is not a problem of the Arabs, this is a problem of the state," Abbas said. “This evening we are not offering favor to the Arabs, this is the only way the state can defeat crime.” 

“In every generation, there is a moment when fear and hope stand together in the same room,” Abbas said, standing next to Segalovitz. “This evening, in this room, hope won out.” 

“Welcome Yoav,” Abbas said, “we have work to do.” 

Ra’am, also known by its name in Arabic, the United Arab List, was founded as a traditional, Muslim party. However, under the direction of Abbas, the party recently began to move away from its Islamist roots to a more broad, civil party. 

Ra’am’s support was crucial to the Lapid-Bennett government coalition in 2021, despite significant ideological differences with both Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and Naftali Bennett’s Yamina (New Right) party.  The three remaining Arab parties have said they intend to run under a joint list in the coming elections.

In his remarks, Segalovitz said that after much deliberation, he decided “that it was right to take action and join at this very time, at a time of social polarization.” 

He did not attempt to minimize the differences between himself and Abbas. 

“I am a Jew, a Zionist, secular, an officer in the IDF, and a superintendent in the Israel Police,” Segalovitz stated. “Mansour is an Arab, religiously devout Muslim, conservative. What connects us— we are all Israelis, and that is our shared identity.” 

“I want to build a real political bridge. Even if there will be problems, and there will be. There will be difficulties,” Segalovitz continued. 

He also referred to the difficult past between Jews and Arabs, saying it should not prevent future cooperation. 

“There are past resentments, there is a bloody history in the relations in this land, there are different narratives, and that is our collective past,” Segalovitz stated. “We will not change the past because it is an existing fact.” 

“Everyone will hold their position on the past; the duty is to create a shared future.” 

The announcement drew diverse reactions across the political spectrum, with many in the coalition government offering sharp criticism. 

Knesset member Gilad Kariv, of the Democrats party, welcomed the announcement as “good news for the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.” 

“On this evening, I would like to wish good luck to two brave people whom I am proud to call friends: Yoav Segalovitz and Mansour Abbas,” Kariv said. “Tonight you bring good news to the citizens of Israel, Jews and Arabs alike.” 

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, of the Likud party, attacked the move, saying it was designed to enable a broad government headed by Gadi Eisenkot. 

“Segalovitz's joining the United Arab List is intended to achieve one thing: The legitimization of an Islamist party's joining Eisenkot's government, whose members are incapable of saying, ‘Hamas is a terrorist organization,’” Ohana wrote on X. 

The Likud party released a statement making a similar claim. 

“Even Segalovitz won’t hide the fact that Mansour Abbas refuses to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations and is pushing to establish a Palestinian state,” the statement said. “Together with Eisenkot, [Avigdor] Liberman, and Yair Golan, they are going to establish a Palestinian state government.”