JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a coalition deal with a small ultranationalist faction leader known for homophobic rhetoric and disparaging remarks about non-Orthodox Jews, a sign of the prospective government’s hardline makeup.
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Netanyahu’s Likud party announced Sunday that the agreement names Noam faction leader Avi Maoz as a deputy minister whose portfolio includes an office bolstering Jewish identity among Israelis.
The incremental step is part of Netanyahu’s effort to hammer out a power-sharing agreement with his potential ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist allies following the Nov. 1 parliamentary election. Netanyahu stands poised to form one of the most hardline religious and nationalist governments in Israel’s history.
Maoz is a Jewish fundamentalist and West Bank settler who is an outspoken opponent to LGBTQ rights and women serving in the military, and has voiced opposition to Arabs teaching Jewish students in Israeli schools. He has denied the legitimacy of non-Orthodox Judaism, including the Reform and Conservative movements, which are marginal in Israel but dominant in the U.S. and have long provided the country with financial and diplomatic support.
Maoz said in a statement that the deal with Likud was the “first step in returning the soul to the country.”
Maoz’s Noam faction ran in the last elections on a joint ticket with Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, which won 14 seats in the 120-member Israeli parliament, the Knesset, making it the third-largest faction.
Netanyahu’s Likud party has yet to finalize its coalition agreement with all its prospective allies and form a government.
Homophobic???? That’s what happens when you have an AmericanPravda (AP) subscription.
1) he’s no radical
2) your contempt for Netanyahu is incredibly transparent. He may technically be “former Prime Minister“. However for all practical purposes is the next Prime Minister what do you like it or not.
This is great. I love watching leftists heads explode.
“Homophobic”??? I hope all religious jews are against public sinners
homophobic rhetoric ? Am I the only one scratching my head?
I’m not a Zionist but if I were, this would be my guy. Kol hakavod.
Is this a frum website????
”Likud signs coalition deal with anti-toeiva party”
^Fixed your headline for you. Isn’t this supposed to be a religious website?
finally a sane Zionist voice.
Where did the AP get this writer? To say “homophobic” is to use inflated rhetoric, and goes against a jounalistic principle usually learned in high school! Those who learn Torah, and have carefully read this MK’s statements, can testify that his positions are in accordance with Jewish Law.
Everyone can see who the real defenders of Torah are. Zionists honor Torah Umitzvos.
New Square welcomes and supports a candidate who is married to another man.
VIN calls him a Radical, so what is the norm?
Is vin news for real? What’s going on in your heads? Are you a radical leftist news media outlet now
Am I reading a “frum” website?! The choice of words in this article describing Moaz who is a tzaddik, a true eved Hashem speaking out against abominations!
The comments section is a stark reminder why so many otherwise fine people are leaving the Frum community in droves. Hateful.
I like radicals. They get right to the root of the matter.
What’s with the liberal sinners down votes?