Debate over anti-LGBTQ leader’s role in Israeli Education Ministry explodes
Outgoing Prime Minister Lapid has encouraged local authorities not to cooperate with Avi Maoz, whose Noam party he refers to as "extreme, racist, homophobic."
The outgoing and incoming prime ministers, Yair Lapid and Benjamin Netanyahu, continued the heated debate on the latter’s decision to assign responsibilities under the Education Ministry to the leader of the anti-LGBTQ Noam party.
Lapid called on Netanyahu to walk back his decision to hand over control of the external teaching and partnerships to ultra-conservative Avi Maoz, who is known for his anti-LGBTQ policies, and support for increasing ultra-orthodox “values” in the educational system, which he said had been targeted by “radical, progressive brainwashing.”
“You made a mistake, you know you made a mistake,” Lapid said, adding that he supports the numerous local authorities in Tel Aviv suburbs which that said they would fight Maoz if liberal programs are cut by him.
“We’ll help them because they’re totally correct,” Lapid said.
Netanyahu accused Lapid of spreading lies and undermining democracy while defending his decision to give Maoz educational responsibilities by saying his Noam party will only control “a thousandth of the education budget.”
“Netanyahu said this week that the fact that I am calling on the heads of the authorities not to cooperate with Maoz is sedition. There is no limit to this man’s shamelessness. If you think what I’ve been saying the last few days is rebellious, I have news for you, you ain’t seen nothing yet. I have just started,” Lapid fired back.
The prime minister-designate referred to Lapid’s statement last week, where he said “the new government being formed in Israel has forsaken our children’s education and handed it over to the most extreme and backward figures in Israeli society.”
Lapid called Noam an “ an extreme, racist, homophobic and dangerous party,” while urging local authorities to refuse working with him.
“The solemn responsibility for the educational content our children will study in schools now passes to you,” he said.
The head of the Tel Aviv education department, Shirley Rimon Bracha called the appointment of Maoz “a management drama that could become a moral drama as well. I assume we all fear extremist, one-sided political intervention in the school material. This is not a minor incident.”
Maoz said the intense criticism aimed at him in recent days is a “a wild political campaign by the left, headed by Yair Lapid and the media, against the elected prime minister and his attempt to form a government.”
“This is a campaign of the minority that lost the elections — against the majority of the people who spoke decisively at the ballot box. This campaign is nothing short of a rebellion and an attempt to prevent a prime minister from forming the only legitimate elected government after the elections,” he added.
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