Yoav Segalovitz, 67, a member of the Israeli Knesset who previously headed the Israel Police's Investigations and Intelligence Division, is in discussions about joining Ra'am, the United Arab List, ahead of Israel's October 27 election, after telling his current party, Yesh Atid, that he would not run with them, according to pollster Yousef Makladeh, who described a conversation with Segalovitz prior to his departure.
Israeli MK Segalovitz in talks to join Arab party Ra'am ahead of October election
Yoav Segalovitz, 67, a member of the Israeli Knesset who previously headed the Israel Police's Investigations and Intelligence Division, is in discussions about joining Ra'am, the United Arab List, ahead of Israel's October 27 election, after telling his current party, Yesh Atid, that he would not run with them, according to pollster Yousef Makladeh, who described a conversation with Segalovitz prior to his departure.
In an official statement last week, Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas and Segalovitz said they had met and held a 'cordial and positive' discussion about the possibility of Segalovitz joining Ra'am's slate in the upcoming Knesset elections, and agreed to continue direct talks to advance the matter.
Makladeh told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the move had been under discussion for months and described Ra'am as 'the missing piece of the puzzle' that could lift the opposition bloc to 62 or 63 seats. Israeli polls have consistently shown that the opposition's Jewish parties poll at approximately 58 to 60 seats, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc trails with roughly 50, with neither side projected to reach the 61 seats needed to form a government.
Most recent polls give Ra'am between five and seven seats. A Channel 13 poll conducted in part by Makladeh found Ra'am would rise to seven seats if Segalovitz joined — six from Arab voters and one from Jewish voters — compared with five seats in most recent surveys.
Segalovitz has been a member of Yesh Atid since 2016 and served as Deputy Minister of Internal Security in the 2021-2022 Bennett-Lapid government, during which he was the public face of efforts to combat violent crime in Israel's Arab communities. In his only full year in government, the number of Arab citizens killed in crimes fell from 126 to 116, according to data from the Abraham Initiatives, a nonprofit that tracks violence and crime in Arab communities. The figure rose to 244 the following year, after he was replaced.
Ra'am, founded in 1996, has roots in the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement and was historically part of the traditional bloc of Arab parties in the Knesset until Abbas split away to focus on practical achievements for Israel's Arab society rather than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The party served as kingmaker in the 2021 elections, when its support enabled the Bennett-Lapid coalition — the first in Israeli history to take office with an Arab party's backing — to form a government and remove Netanyahu from power after 12 consecutive years as prime minister.
Opposition leaders have sent mixed signals about whether they would govern with Ra'am again. Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has said he 'doesn't rule out' a coalition partnership with Abbas. Naftali Bennett said in February that 'after October 7, there is no mandate in Israel for a government that relies on Arab parties,' though he recently declined to answer directly when asked whether he would rely on Abbas. Bennett previously included Ra'am in his coalition after campaigning against doing so. Yair Lapid, who was the architect of Ra'am's inclusion in the 2021 coalition, has ruled out forming a government that relies on Arab parties. Avigdor Liberman, who heads Yisrael Beiteinu and sat with Ra'am in the 2021-2022 government, said last week that 'Ra'am cannot be a coalition partner.'
- The source does not state whether Segalovitz has formally resigned from Yesh Atid or remains a member while in discussions with Ra'am.
- The source does not state the full methodology, sample size, or margin of error of the Channel 13 poll cited.
- The source does not state what specific policy conditions, if any, Segalovitz or Ra'am have attached to a potential partnership.
- The source does not establish whether Netanyahu's bloc has approached Abbas for a potential partnership in the current election cycle, beyond a reference to reported contact in 2021.
- Segalovitz's spokesperson declined to comment and Ra'am did not respond to a request for comment, so neither party's full rationale is confirmed on the record.
- The source does not state what prompted the October 27 election date or describe the circumstances under which the current Netanyahu government came to be calling an election.
Read the original at The Jerusalem Post