Former police officer joins Arab party ticket ahead of Israeli election

Former Israeli police officer and ex-lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz will run second on the Arab Raam party ticket in the 27 October general election, placing a prominent Jewish candidate at the centre of an Arab-led political campaign.

Segalovitz, a centrist lawmaker and deputy national security minister from 2021 to 2022, has said his shared Israeli identity with Raam leader Mansour Abbas can bridge political differences between Jewish and Arab citizens. Abbas has described the former officer as someone chosen for his ability to address the issues facing Arab communities.

Raam is presenting the candidacy as part of its response to organised crime. Denis Charbit, a political science professor at the Open University of Israel, said killings in Arab communities reached 166 between January and August 2026, after exceeding 200 in 2025. Those figures have not been independently verified in the source material.

The alliance could affect coalition negotiations after the vote. A Channel 13 poll conducted on 2 September reportedly put the Netanyahu-aligned and opposition blocs on 53 seats each in the 120-member Knesset, while Arab parties held 14 seats combined. The election result, Raam’s final seat count and its willingness to support or join a coalition remain uncertain.

The move has drawn condemnation from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called it a left-wing effort to enable a future government with the Muslim Brotherhood. He also posted a doctored image of Abbas and Segalovitz featuring Hamas symbols. The allegations and image do not establish any factual link between the candidates and Hamas.

Raam’s cooperation with a Jewish former lawmaker comes as political partnerships with Arab parties have faced greater opposition since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and the Gaza war. An Arab party previously joined the short-lived Bennett-Lapid government in 2021–22.