The radical Noam faction announced Thursday that as part of the coalition talks, it plans to demand that the government repeal the law protecting women from violence and safeguarding their equal representation for women in politics and state institutions.
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The law was passed in compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which was the first formal and legal document declared countries must prevent violations of women's rights, support women's participation in politic, and protect women and girls from sexual violence in times of war and peace alike.
Noam is an extremist religious-Zionist party that follows the teachings of Rabbi Zvi Yisrael Tau, co-founder and president of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem. It is known for its hardline anti-LGBTQ, anti-Reform positions.
Noam joined forces with the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which follows the Kahanist doctrine, ahead of the March 23 elections.
While neither radical party had ever been elected to the Knesset independently, they both merged and joined forces with Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich ahead of the elections, hoping to scrape by the four-seat electoral threshold.
As the Religious Zionist Party eventually won six mandates, Noam leader Avi Maoz will now become a lawmaker.
According to the Walla news website, Maoz said in a statement that he also plans to demand "to restore Israel's Jewish character, which has been eroded in recent years, by preventing government projects operating on Shabbat, subjecting the conversions system to the sole discretion of the Chief Rabbinate, and more."
Maoz said he would also seek to promote a government decision "that requires the defense establishment to restore victory as a central value for the IDF" and that he demands the next government form a special task force "to combat foreign influences in Israel."
The latter, he said, would "strive to prevent foreign anti-Israel elements from penetrating state and public institutions, influence [Israelis'] values and undercutting national resilience."
The shocking demands drew immediate fire from the Center-Left bloc.
"Is this the government you want? A disturbed, racist, chauvinistic government that will take Israel back to the Middle Ages?" Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid twitted.
"No sane prime minister – no sane elected official – can allow such a thing to happen."
Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg, said, "The darkness misguidedly called the 'Noam party' was kept hidden from everyone during the elections only to reveal that for immunity, Netanyahu will require a Handmaid's Tale-style reality.
"A Netanyahu government is not just a political game of musical chairs but a tangible threat to the well-being of women and the LGBTQ community," she said.
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