Former lawmaker Segalovich to run second on Raam list in Israel
Former Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovich will run in the second spot on the electoral list of the Arab party Raam in Israel’s parliamentary elections on October 27. At a joint press conference in Nazareth, he said he would join the Raam parliamentary faction but would not formally join the party.
As The Jerusalem Post reports, Segalovich described himself as a secular Jewish Zionist who served as an army officer and held senior positions in the Israel Police. He described Raam chairman Mansour Abbas as an Arab, a religious Muslim and a social conservative. According to Segalovich, they are united by a shared Israeli identity.
Reactions and political goal
Segalovich previously headed the Israel Police’s Investigations and Intelligence Division and the national crime-fighting unit Lahav 433. In the previous government, he coordinated the state campaign against organized crime and violence in Arab communities.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he considers his former party colleague’s decision a mistake, although he respects his beliefs. Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman said that Raam cannot be a coalition partner. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the opposition’s possible dependence on support from Abbas’s party one of the topics of the election campaign.
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According to Segalovich, Arab citizens make up about 21% of Israel’s population and work in medicine, universities, industry and public services, yet they are excluded from political influence. He said he does not consider Raam or Abbas a threat and advocates partnership between the Jewish and Arab parts of society.
Campaign priorities
Segalovich named the fight against violent crime as one of the top priorities. According to the Abraham Initiatives, the number of Arab citizens killed as a result of criminal violence fell from 126 to 116 during his only full year in government, and rose to 244 the following year.
Segalovich also supports expanding civilian service for young Arab citizens. Among other priorities, he named education, healthcare, social protection, employment and infrastructure. He separately drew attention to the problems of Bedouin communities in the Negev, particularly in planning, housing and public services.
