Jewish ‘supercop’ runs on Arab ticket in Israeli polls – and sparks a storm

The twists and turns of Israeli politics can sometimes throw up surprise alliances, unlikely bedfellows and unforeseen ideological adjustments. It has happened again in the runup to the October 27 Israeli general elections. Yoav Segalovitz – a former centrist lawmaker and deputy national security minister from 2021 to 2022 – sent shockwaves last month when he announced his decision to run on the election list of a moderate Islamist party. The United Arab List – known by its Hebrew acronym, Raam – made headlines in 2021 when its leader, Mansour Abbas, an Islamist politician, emerged as a kingmaker. Following the elections, Abbas went on to make history by becoming the first Israeli of Arab-Muslim origin to serve as a minister under the short-lived, 2021-2022 governing coalition of Naftali Bennett and secular centrist Yair Lapid. Read moreIslamist, dentist and ‘gentleman’: The rise of Israel’s unlikely kingmaker Five years later, Abbas produced another shocker with his pick for a new number two for the 2026 elections. It was not an obvious choice. Dubbed the "supercop" by the Israeli media due to his extensive career tackling organised crime and corruption in Israel, Segalovitz is kn...