Former lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz's decision in recent days to join the United Arab List, making him the first member of a Zionist party in decades to join an Arab-led party, could reshape Israel’s Oct. 27 elections by opening the door for the Islamist Raam party to cooperate with opposition parties that have so far boycotted it.

Capping weeks of speculation, Segalovitz, formerly of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, and Raam head Mansour Abbas convened a press conference last Monday to announce the move. Segalovitz will be placed in the second slot on Raam's Knesset list for the upcoming elections. As public opinion polls over the past three months have predicted that Raam will win between four and five Knesset seats, Segalovitz is highly likely to become a member of parliament.

Breaking a taboo 

Following the 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel, several opposition leaders, including Together heads Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid as well as Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, have said they will not include any Arab or non-Zionist parties in a future coalition government.