Ra’am’s Abbas announces ex-Yesh Atid MK as first Jewish candidate to join Arab party's slate

Former Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovitz has joined Ra'am (United Arab List) as the first Jewish candidate on the Islamist-conservative party's slate for the upcoming election. Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas announced Segalovitz's addition, stating, "We have work to do together." Segalovitz, who recently resigned from the Knesset, emphasized breaking political divides, asserting, "I explicitly want to break the paradigm of dividing lines and lines of discourse." This move is seen as an effort to position Ra'am as a more viable coalition partner, following its historic participation in the 2021 Bennett-Lapid government. While other major Arab parties are forming a unified list, Abbas has opted for Ra'am to run independently, a strategy viewed as aiming for future coalition inclusion despite opposition from some parties post-October 7.