Former MK and retired police major general Yoav Segalovitz officially joined the Ra’am party's slate on Monday evening ahead of the upcoming elections.
The announcement was made at a press conference where the move was presented as an effort to make combating crime and violence a top priority on the civilian agenda. Segalovitz is expected to be placed second on the party's Knesset slate.
At the outset, Ra’am chairman MK Mansour Abbas explained the background to the move: "Ra’am keeps the civilian problems of Arab citizens in the country at the forefront. And when I say civilian problems, I mean the first thing every father and mother in Arab society think about before they fall asleep: Will my children come home safely? That is crime. That is the violence that harms innocent citizens every single day. And eliminating it is our top priority. Not as an item in our platform. As a mission."
"I have learned one thing in recent years: To create change, you need partnership. Civilian partnership. To create change, you need to see the other person as a human being, not as an enemy. Some people are afraid of partnership. Some parties are afraid of partnership. They are afraid of what people will say, afraid of what they will lose. Ra’am is not afraid of partnership. Ra’am promotes it."
Abbas continued, "These days, as we are putting together the Ra’am slate for the next Knesset, I asked myself a simple question: If we believe in partnership, why wait for it? Why tell the public, 'After the election we'll sit down, talk and see'? Anyone who believes in something doesn't wait until it is convenient. They start. So Ra’am isn't waiting for partnership to happen in the Knesset. It is starting it beforehand."
Abbas also addressed the criticism he expects from both sides: "And I know what they will say. They'll tell me, 'What does an Arab need a Jewish police commander for?' And they'll tell him, 'What is a Jewish police commander looking for among the Arabs?' My answer is simple: I'm not looking for someone who is 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 religion the police officer is. He asks why nobody came. And to every Jewish citizen listening now: This crime doesn't stop at the exit from the village. The weapon that fires today in Tamra will fire tomorrow in Afula. The organizations collecting protection money from an Arab grocery store owner also collect it from a Jewish garage owner. This isn't an Arab problem. It's a state problem. And what we're offering here tonight isn't a favor to the Arabs. It's the only way this country defeated crime the one time it truly tried: Arabs and Jews, together, with a professional leading the fight against crime."
Segalovitz, for his part, explained the reasons behind his decision to join the initiative: "I don't intend to change Mansour or Ra’am, and they won't change me, but it is possible to cooperate politically on the basis of trust, recognition of our differences, and a commitment to working together. There is a legacy from the past and there is a bloody history. We cannot change the past because it is an existing fact. The role of leadership is to change reality and create a better future."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded on X, writing: "Birds of a feather flock together."
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana responded: "Eisenkot has no coalition without Abbas. Segalovitz's joining Ra’am is intended to achieve one thing: legitimize the inclusion in an Eisenkot government of an Islamist list whose members are unable to say that 'Hamas is a terrorist organization.' Such a government would not be able to fight Hamas, Hezbollah or the Iranian nuclear program. Such a government must not be formed."
The Likud Party said, "Segalovitz, too, will not be able to hide the fact that Mansour Abbas is unwilling to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations and is pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Together with Eisenkot, Liberman and Yair Golan, they are going to form a Palestinian-state government."