The Media Line: ‘I Am Going to an Arab Party. They Are Not Coming to Me’: Segalovitz Explains Ra’am Move

‘I Am Going to an Arab Party. They Are Not Coming to Me’: Segalovitz Explains Ra’am Move

The former senior police commander will run second on Ra’am’s slate while joining its parliamentary faction rather than becoming a formal party member

By Gabriel Colodro / The Media Line

Former Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz will occupy the second position on Ra’am’s ticket in Israel’s October 27 election, putting a Jewish Zionist immediately behind the leader of a party built primarily around an Arab Muslim constituency. Segalovitz told
The Media Line that he will join Ra’am’s parliamentary faction but will not become a formal member of the party, a distinction that allows him to retain his political identity while running on its slate.

At a joint press conference in Nazareth, Segalovitz introduced the partnership by listing the differences between himself and Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas. Segalovitz described himself as a Jewish, secular Zionist who served as an army officer and rose to one
of the highest ranks in the Israel Police. Abbas, he said, is an Arab, a religious Muslim, and a social conservative. “What connects us is that we are all Israelis,” Segalovitz said. “That is our shared identity.”