‘Insanity, unreal’: Netanyahu slammed over deal with anti-pluralistic, homophobic MK

The prospect of a hardline, ultra-conservative, anti-pluralistic, homophobic nationalist being appointed as the next government’s head of “Jewish identity” was met with staunch rebuke from politicians from the outgoing coalition on Sunday, with lawmakers slamming the move by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu as “insanity,” “racist” and “unreal.”

Avi Maoz, the single lawmaker of the fringe Noam party, is one of the Knesset’s most far-right politicians, holding non-pluralist Jewish views and sexist, anti-LGBT and anti-Arab positions.

He will be appointed as a deputy minister and head a to-be-created authority for Jewish identity, which will be housed under the Prime Minister’s Office, following an agreement signed Sunday with Netanyahu.

While Netanyahu’s Likud only shared partial details of the agreement, the party said that among the organizations to be transferred to Maoz’s authority is Nativ, which is responsible for processing Jewish immigration to Israel from the former Soviet Union. READ MORE