Former senior officials and figures from Israel’s security establishment have approached Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas amid talks over former Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovitz potentially joining the party, Channel 12’s Muhammad Majadle said in an interview with 103FM on Sunday.
Segalovitz officially announced that he would leave Yesh Atid on Thursday, reportedly ahead of a possible move to Ra’am. Speaking with Gideon Oko and Amichai Attali on 103FM, Majadle, a Channel 12 journalist and Radio al-Nas host, provided an update on the progress of talks surrounding the surprising political partnership and did not rule out the possibility that other Jewish figures associated with the security establishment could join Segalovitz.
“Recently, several people approached Ra’am following the negotiations with Yoav Segalovitz. A group was formed specifically of former senior officials and others, people who held positions in the past, people who fought in the latest war and saw this move as important. They approached Mansour, Ra’am heard their approaches, and they sat down and spoke with them,” Majadle revealed.
“Mansour did not rule anything out. He sat with them and listened. It was very important to them to reach out and say that they support this move and that they could even join. From Mansour and Ra’am’s perspective, they said they welcome the move, but they do not want to create a situation in which it undermines the move instead of making it more acceptable.”
Regarding sentiment within the Arab sector over the planned move, Majadle said that “The direction in Arab society is very positive. Yoav Segalovitz is a very well-regarded figure in Arab society because of what he did to combat crime in the previous government and because of the good relations he has with local authority heads. Even Hadash-Ta’al and Balad are not attacking the move because everyone knows that he is someone who is difficult to attack in Arab society because of the support he enjoys. So, in that sense, Ra’am wants to understand how much this move helps them with their base, and they are trying to understand how much it expands the pie and brings in new audiences.”
Ra’am party head MK Mansour Abbas leads a faction meeting, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on June 29, 2026. (credit: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90)Segalovitz’s move to Ra’am faces technical obstacles
Despite the mutual desire to run together in the election, Majadle explained that ideological and technical obstacles remain that could derail the move.
“Mansour and Yoav very much want this move and very much believe in it, but it does not depend only on them. That is, Yoav Segalovitz has made his decision, he has decided and he wants this. He wants to see several things happen within Ra’am as well.
“He wants to receive a commitment, or an official declaration, regarding a national service framework for all Arab citizens that Ra’am would have to present. There is also this whole issue of accepting the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and recognizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, which, from Yoav’s perspective, has already happened.”
On Ra’am’s side, Majadle said Abbas faces an August 22 deadline to pass the changes he wants ahead of the party’s primaries.
“On Ra’am’s side, Mansour has until August 22 to pass all the changes he wants in Ra’am’s primaries, the separation from the Shura Council and the Islamic Movement, and also to obtain two reserved slots and have them approved by the general assembly. He will bring in both a Jewish candidate and a Christian candidate, and we will see a change in the entire issue of women’s representation. There are people who think that despite all of Mansour’s power, it will be difficult for him to get this through.”
Majadle stressed that the tight political timetable could still prevent the plan from going ahead.
“There are things that could fall apart at the last minute. Ultimately, there is a very tight political timetable here. There are less than two months to pass all these things, and this entire revolution, and things do not always work out. Ultimately, there are so many things that he wants to pass. Ra’am is the United Arab List, and they are bringing a Jewish candidate into it, so they even have to think about the name.”
Abbas determined to take Ra’am in new direction
Majadle said Abbas’s determination to pursue the partnership stems from lessons he drew following the collapse of the previous government.
“After the previous government fell apart, Mansour Abbas came away with many insights about this move. One of the things he understood was that he needed to take Ra’am in a new direction so that the party could move somewhere else.
“He understood that the idea of a political party in Israel being subordinate to a body such as the Shura Council is not accepted by the Israeli public, as we saw during the previous government, when the entire State of Israel sat and waited to understand what the Shura Council would decide on issues of crucial importance to the country. He did not want that. He understood that it severely harmed the government. He planned this and waited for the right moment.”
Majadle added that Abbas also concluded that an Arab party seeking influence beyond Arab society would need to create a fundamentally different form of political partnership.
“The second thing he understood was that for an Arab party to be able to influence not only Arab society but Jewish society as well, he has to bring genuine political innovation and a genuine Arab-Jewish political partnership, not what we see now and not what currently exists in the Arab parties. I think he wants to take this step not only in order to be accepted into a future change bloc, but because he genuinely thinks that Ra’am needs to change and take a new path. In my opinion, Mansour Abbas is going for broke. This is his last term. Either he leaves his mark and carries out the change he wants all the way, or he simply leaves.”
