Likud deal with radical ANTI-LGBTQ Israeli party
Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a coalition deal with a small ultra-nationalist faction leader known for homophobic rhetoric and disparaging remarks about non-orthodox Jews.
In a sign of the prospective government's hardline composition, Mr Net any ahu's li kud party announced that the agreement names Noam faction leader Avi Maoz as a deputy minister whose portfolio includes an office bolstering Jewish identity among Israelis.
The step is part of Mr Netanyahu's effort to hammer out a power-sharing agreement with his potential ultra-orthodox and ultranationalist allies following the November 1 parliamentary election.
Mr Netanyahu stands poised to form one of the most hardline religious and nationalist governments in Israel's history.
Mr Maoz, a Jewish fundamentalist and West Bank settler, is an outspoken opponent of LGBTQ rights, women serving in the military and Arabs teaching Jewish students.