A Jewish ex-cop and self-described Zionist might seem an unlikely candidate to represent an Islamist party in Israel’s parliament.
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cop → describe → parliament
But Yoav Segalovitz will soon be seated in the Knesset as a member of Ra’am, an Arab-led party that won eight seats in Tuesday’s election.
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that → seat → election
His decision to leave a centrist Jewish-led party and join a conservative Arab-led one has drawn curiosity and condemnation in Israel, where a key question after an inconclusive election is whether Arab-led parties will be embraced by other opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help oust him from power.
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parties → leave → power
Segalovitz says the purpose of his partnership with Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas was to show that Jews and Arabs can build political coalitions across racial and religious divides.
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Jews → say → divides
“He’s Arab.
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He → ’ → ?
I’m a Jew.
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I → ’m → ?
I’m secular.
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I → ’m → ?
He’s religious,” he said of Abbas.
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he → ’ → Abbas
“But we’re all citizens of Israel.
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we → ’re → Israel
We all take part in this society.
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We → take → society
If we want to get progress here, we must go in partnership together,” he said in an interview before the election.
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he → want → election
Segalovitz was speaking about an alliance formed to help a small party win greater acceptance, but his words also have meaning within a broader debate that could determine the election’s ultimate impact.
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that → speak → impact
Arab-led parties won an unprecedented 18 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset and could play a decisive role in forming a majority in the next government — if the country’s Jewish-led opposition is willing to join hands with them.
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opposition → lead → them
In the banquet hall Tuesday night where Ra’am celebrated picking up three more seats in the Knesset, Segalovitz was the only politician who didn’t address the crowd of supporters in Arabic.
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who → celebrate → Arabic
Few seemed to mind.
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Few → seem → ?
Applause echoed off the walls as he declared, “Kulanu Yisraelim!” — Hebrew for “We are all Israelis!”
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We → echo → walls
Not everyone agrees.
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everyone → agree → ?
Right-wing critics said Segalovitz’s move betrayed Israel and paved the way toward Islamic law in the country.
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move → say → country
Some within the Joint List, the more left-wing Arab-led party, dismissed it as a branding exercise designed to appease mainstream parties rather than address issues facing Arab communities.
But
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Some → lead → communities
both he and Abbas have said their union offers a different vision for Israel’s future while strengthening Ra’am’s case for inclusion in a governing coalition.
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union → say → coalition
That’s done little to stop Netanyahu and his allies, who attacked Ra’am before, during and after the election.
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who → do → election
Netanyahu’s party was among those that petitioned to disqualify Ra’am from running.
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that → petition → Ra’am
Campaigning on the slogan “Right or Palestine,” which rhymes in Hebrew, Netanyahu repeatedly warned that his top rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, would partner with Abbas to secure a majority.
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rival → campaign → majority
Netanyahu’s party — which won more votes than any other even as its grip on power weakened — has also spread unsubstantiated claims that the election was “stolen” by Arab-led parties, something those parties have denied.
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parties → win → parties
“Manifestations of incitement, racism, and exclusion are among the greatest threats to the resilience and strength of the State of Israel,” Segalovitz said Thursday on X.
An uphill battle for inclusion
With Netanyahu’s bloc unable to cobble together a majority, Segalovitz and Abbas’ partnership has exposed a stark asymmetry in Israeli politics.
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partnership → say → politics
An Arab-led party welcomed a Jewish lawmaker into its ranks, yet Jewish-led parties have thus far balked at forming a coalition with Arab-led parties to remove Netanyahu.
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parties → lead → Netanyahu
Only once has an Arab party joined a governing coalition, in 2021, and that government only lasted around 18 months.
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government → join → months
In public, rather than court them, Eisenkot has set conditions for Arab-led parties, including that they profess that Israel is a Jewish and democratic state and declare that Hamas is a terrorist organization “to be demolished.”
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Hamas → court → parties
As Ra’am’s leader, Abbas has acknowledged Israel as a Jewish state and repeatedly condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
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Abbas → acknowledge → attack
At a poolside campaign event in the Jewish-majority town of Caesarea the week before the election, he sidestepped a question about labeling Hamas a terrorist organization.
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he → sidestep → organization
He previously has described the question as a trap, a loyalty test set by extremists.
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He → describe → extremists
A shared stake in the future
Palestinians who managed to stay in Israel after the 1948 war surrounding its creation, and their descendants, make up more than 20% of the population.
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who → share → population
They have Israeli citizenship and the right to vote.
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They → have → citizenship
A majority are Muslim and many feel deep solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
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many → feel → Gaza
Some Palestinian citizens have reached the highest echelons of business and politics in Israel.
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citizens → reach → Israel
Yet many feel forsaken by authorities, with their communities marked by underinvestment and poverty.
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communities → feel → underinvestment
Their sense of exclusion and insecurity has grown during Netanyahu’s current term, as he and his far-right ministers have portrayed them as a threat.
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he → grow → threat
For Segalovitz, they’re part of Israel’s pluralistic society, where people work alongside each other even when they don’t share similar backgrounds.
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they → ’re → backgrounds
The 67-year-old former police investigator makes no secret of his disagreements with Abbas on issues such as mandatory military service or LGBTQ rights.
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investigator → make → service
But he said showing that an Arab-led party can embrace a Jewish politician drawn from the political center is more important than any one issue.
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party → say → issue
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
