A True Shared Home
Yuval Albashan analyzes the move by Yoav Segalovich and Mansour Abbas to establish a joint political home, comparing it to the historical Maki. He argues that the new partnership, unlike previous ones, does not renounce national identities but carries them with pride, and thus may bypass the Zionist trap. Segalovich, who may run on the Ra'am list, could prove that the wall from 1965 is not a law of nature.
In an opinion column, Yuval Albashan analyzes the political move by Yoav Segalovich and Mansour Abbas to establish a joint political home for Jews and Arabs. He compares it to the historical Maki, which was founded in 1948 by Jews and Arabs and was the only political home where they sat together as equal partners, but split in 1965 into a Jewish faction (which kept the name) and an Arab faction (Rakah). Since then, only individuals have crossed the lines. Albashan argues that the current move is the closest thing to a true shared home since then, because it does not require the partners to give up their national identities: Segalovich proudly holds his Zionist identity, and Abbas does not hide his Palestinian identity. This is what makes their actions unprecedented. He notes that Abbas and his people will decide whether the home is established, but Segalovich will determine how its rooms are divided. Albashan emphasizes that the new home does not rely on symbols and slogans, but on the aspiration to bring real results on the ground, and Segalovich's presence with his achievements in the war on Arab crime is intended to attract Arab voters seeking real change. This functionality may allow them to bypass the Zionist trap, which has foiled previous initiatives such as "Brit Shalom" and Magnes's "The Union". If the move succeeds and Segalovich enters the Knesset on the Ra'am list, he will prove that the wall from 1965 is not a law of nature and will give hope for true binational partnerships. Albashan concludes that the chances of success are low, but even failure will not erase the glory of the moment.