Mansour Abbas, leader of Israel’s Islamist party Raam, has taken an unprecedented step by selecting Yoav Segalovitz, a veteran Israeli police commander and former deputy minister of national security, as the party’s second candidate on its list for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The move, announced Monday in Nazareth, seeks to demonstrate Raam’s commitment to partnership with Israel’s Jewish majority amid longstanding skepticism toward Arab political parties joining government coalitions.

Segalovitz, a former member of the centrist Zionist party Yesh Atid, brings extensive experience in law enforcement, having served for nearly three decades, including founding the police’s anticorruption and major crime unit, Lahav 433. He previously worked alongside Abbas in the 2021-2022 coalition governments led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, during which Abbas became the first Arab lawmaker to participate in an Israeli governing coalition.

As deputy national security minister, Segalovitz focused on combating crime in Arab communities, where he achieved notable reductions in homicides and shootings. Despite not speaking Arabic, he gained considerable respect within Arab Israeli communities, which make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population. Following the return of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the appointment of far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as national security minister, crime rates in Arab areas have increased, with a record 168 Arab Israelis killed this year, according to the Abraham Initiative, a Jewish-Arab nonprofit organization.

Abbas underscored the broader national impact of criminal activity in Arab sectors, emphasizing that extortion and violence affect all Israelis regardless of ethnicity. He portrayed Raam’s partnership with Segalovitz as a pragmatic effort to address pressing security issues more effectively. “I am not looking for someone who is like me. I am looking for someone who knows how to do the job,” Abbas said.

This alliance could have significant political ramifications. Raam, which polls suggest will secure at least five seats in the October elections, holds a potential kingmaker role in determining whether opposition parties can form a government capable of unseating Netanyahu. The party’s cooperation with a figure firmly rooted in the Zionist establishment marks a notable departure from previous Arab party alignments, which rarely included prominent Jewish politicians.

The decision comes amid heightened tensions following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, an event that intensified mistrust toward Arab politicians among many Jewish Israelis. Abbas has consistently condemned Hamas and the attack, called for the release of Israeli hostages, and distanced Raam from its former ties to the Islamic movement. He has also opened party membership to Israelis of all faiths, aiming to present Raam as a moderate, pragmatic force.

Analysts suggest that by integrating Segalovitz into its leadership, Raam seeks to signal moderation and broaden its appeal to both Arab and Jewish constituents. Tzair Abu Ras of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute observed that the party is “proving its credentials as a party that has moderated even more—taking someone from the Jewish mainstream—so you shouldn’t have a problem recruiting us for the next government.” The partnership may help Raam advance its agenda amid a political landscape often marked by division and polarization.