Ra’am’s Abbas, Yoav Segalovitz hold meeting to promote a joint run in elections
The pair met to discuss the need 'to present a worthy political alternative to the state's citizens, Jews and Arabs'
Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas and MK Yoav Segalovitz announced on Wednesday that they had met to discuss including Segalovitz on Ra'am's list.
Their discussion focused on "the fabric of Jewish-Arab relations, in light of many challenges and the need to present a worthy political alternative to the citizens of the state, Jews and Arabs."
Segalovitz signalled his interest in joining the list at the beginning of August on the condition that Ra'am recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.
Segalovitz was formerly the head of the Israel Police Investigations and Intelligence Division as well as deputy minister of national security.
Despite the general distrust of the police in the Arab community, polls show Segalovitz is the only Jewish politician Arabs trust, which could provide a serious boost to the party's standing in the election.
This might partially be explained by his role in fighting the organized crime plaguing the Arab community. Around 160 Arabs have been murdered in Israel since the start of the year, with only 12% of the cases solved, according to the Abraham Initiatives.
Following today's announcement, far-right Noam party submitted a request to the Central Elections Committee to disqualify Ra'am from the election, claiming that Abbas's statements in Arabic deny the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
The request claims that Abbas is ‘using two languages’ to obscure his true position and that the party operates through deception.