Mansour Abbas bets on Yoav Segalovich to make Ra’am acceptable to Israel’s center

Yoav Segalovich is not joining Ra’am, but he will occupy the second position on its electoral list. That unusual arrangement is the centerpiece of Mansour Abbas’s effort to make cooperation with the Arab party more acceptable to Israel’s political center.

Segalovich is the first Jewish candidate placed second on Ra’am’s slate. He will not formally join the party and will retain freedom to vote independently on religion and state, security, and LGBT rights. He also plans to promote civilian service in Arab society.

For Abbas, the choice is less about adding a famous name than about gaining legitimacy. Segalovich brings no independent political network or former party structure. His value lies in his ability to speak to Jewish voters without immediately alienating Ra’am’s Arab supporters, while Abbas can insist that the party itself has not changed.

Segalovich is a former senior police officer, former deputy public security minister and longtime Yesh Atid politician. He is especially associated with the “Safe Track” program and efforts to fight crime in Arab society. In an internal Ra’am poll of 750 Arab citizens, 75% identified him as the Jewish politician most attuned to their needs.

Abbas has openly said he wants Ra’am back in government. He views the party’s seat total as important, but the decisive question will be whether potential coalition partners such as Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman are prepared to work with those seats. Five or six Ra’am mandates could determine whether a coalition is formed or fails, making Segalovich a political signal as much as a candidate.

“

Safe Track