In this file photo, Israeli lawmaker Avi Maoz, center, strokes his beard as Israel’s new right-wing government is sworn in, at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on December 29, 2022, in Jerusalem. (Amir Cohen/Pool Photo via AP, File)

JERUSALEM (AP) — An ultranationalist ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resigned as deputy minister in the country’s new government.

Avi Maoz’s departure is the first breach in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which took power in late December after winning a parliamentary majority in November elections.

Maoz, the leader of a small ultranationalist faction known for his homophobic rhetoric and derogatory comments about non-Orthodox Jews, said he would step down as deputy minister but continue to vote with the coalition in parliament . Netanyahu’s group controls 64 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

In a letter to the prime minister, the Noam faction leader wrote Monday that he “found that there was no serious intention to maintain the coalition agreement” regarding an office to strengthen Jewish identity among Israelis.

Maoz is a Jewish fundamentalist and settler in the West Bank who has spoken out publicly against LGBTQ rights and women serving in the military. Furthermore, he opposes Arabs who teach Jewish students in Israeli schools and has denied the legitimacy of non-Orthodox Judaism, including the Reform and Conservative movements, which are marginal in Israel but dominant in the United States and have provided financial and diplomatic resources to the nation. .

Noam ran in the last elections on a joint list with Jewish Power, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the Religious Zionist Party of Bezalel Smotrich. They got 14 MPs, making them the third largest group in the chamber.

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