Joint List slams Ra’am for spurning it to run with Segalovitz

The three parties comprising the Joint List slam Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas for mounting a joint run with former Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovitz rather than with other Arab factions.

In a statement, the Joint List dismisses the Jewish, Zionist former police official, lawmaker and deputy minister as “a former army officer who emphasizes and prides himself on his Zionist identity,” stating that his inclusion on the Ra’am list came “at the expense of the Arab public’s votes” and shows that his partnership with Abbas is based on the acceptance of “the framework of Zionist supremacy.”

“We are in favor of the broadest possible Arab-Jewish partnership in struggle but a true partnership must be a partnership between equals, based on opposition to the occupation, racism and supremacy” and Segalovitz’s inclusion as Abbas’s number two “effectively grants one of the safest spots on the list to a Yesh Atid member, who continues to adhere to his party’s positions and was even granted freedom of vote on issues related to the occupation, conscription, and matters concerning the principles of the Arab public,” the Joint List adds.

In a joint press conference on Monday evening, Abbas said that Ra’am’s top priority is eliminating crime and violence against innocent citizens and the only way to accomplish this goal is to create partnerships.

His decision to remain separate from the other Arab factions appeared to anger his former colleagues, with the Joint List asking how Ra’am failed “to find a sufficient common denominator with three parties representing broad segments of Arab society, yet managed to quickly find common ground with Segalovitz and even make political concessions for him to join.”