Segalovitz joins Ra'am, calls for Jewish-Arab political partnership

United Arab List (Ra'am) Chairman Mansour Abbas announced Yoav Segalovitz as number two on the list during a press conference on Monday.

Segalovitz becomes the first Jewish candidate to appear on an Arab party list.

Segalovitz is a former police commander responsible for the Israel Police's Intelligence and Investigation Division, which is precisely why Abbas has selected him for second place on the list.

"The first thing that every father and mother in Arab society thinks about before they fall asleep: Will my children return home safely?" Abbas said during the announcement. "To create change, you need partnership. Civil partnership. To create change, you need to see the other as a human being, not as an enemy."

Abbas extolled Segalovitz as one of the key contributors to the reduction in crime in the Arab community during the 2021-22 government, saying, "When it comes to crime, an officer who has stood up to criminals his whole life without asking what their religion is. An honest, quiet man who doesn't seek headlines. Yoav Segalovitz."

He then turned to the current government and said "In the last four years, the numbers have only increased. Close to a thousand murdered. It could have been different, and we know it, because we saw it happen."

Abbas explained his decision to select Segalovitz, saying, "I'm not looking for someone like me. I'm looking for someone who knows how to do the job. And the Arab citizen who buried his son doesn't ask what the policeman's religion is."

He then said that crime in the Arab community must concern Jewish citizens because, "The weapon that fires today in Tamra will fire tomorrow in Afula. The organizations that collect protection fees from an Arab grocery store owner also collect from a Jewish garage owner. This is not a problem for the Arabs. This is a problem for the state."

Segalovitz echoed Abbas's words, saying, "It is impossible to fix the country without partnerships, including political ones. I explicitly want to break the paradigm of the existing fault lines and prevailing discourse."

"The common notion that after October 7 it is not possible to have a political partnership with the Arab parties is baseless and false," he said. "We can cooperate politically based on trust, recognizing our differences, and committing to joint action."

"There are past grievances, and there is a bloody history. We cannot change the past. The role of political leadership is to change reality and create a better future."

Segalovitz is the only Jewish politician with a positive rating in the Arab community.

The Likud Party responded to the announcement by claiming that Segalovitz, Abbas, Eisenkot, and Liberman would establish a Palestinian state. "Segalovitz won't hide the fact that Mansour Abbas is not willing to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations and is pushing to establish a Palestinian state. Together with Eisenkot and Liberman, they are going to establish a Palestinian state government."