The far-right, anti-LGBTQ faction Noam compiled a list of dozens of gay TV anchors, reporters, radio hosts and other TV professionals working in the news and entertainment industries, and a collection of “extreme left-wing” women who it says is part of a “secret team” in an army unit responsible for gender equality, as part of a 2019 internal document that appears to outline the party’s perceived opponents in the media and civil society.
The lists were compiled for unknown reasons, the online news site Ynet first reported on Thursday, ahead of a wider feature on Friday in the print edition, Yedioth Ahronoth.
Noam openly espouses homophobic views and policies and ran on an anti-LGBTQ, anti-pluralist agenda as part of the Religious Zionism party ahead of the November 1 election that gave Likud and its far-right, religious partners 64 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset.
Noam leader Avi Maoz will serve as deputy minister in the prime minister’s office and lead a unit responsible for Israel’s “Jewish national identity” in the incoming government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Maoz has condemned female enlistment in the IDF and has said he would work to close an army unit responsible for promoting equal opportunities for women in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
As part of the Office of Jewish Identity, Maoz is slated to take control of an education ministry unit responsible for approving outside education providers, which play a critical role in school programming. Especially prevalent in secular schools, these vendors cover a range of topics from sexual health to bar mitzvah preparation.
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On Thursday, Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth columnist Nadav Eyal revealed parts of a document – prepared for the party’s internal use and dated 2019 – that lists dozens of names of journalists and editors at some of Israel’s largest news organizations, including Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet, Ha’aretz, Channel 12, Channel 13 and Kan public broadcaster as well as TV personalities, some of whom have been open about their sexual orientation.
The report cited another part of the document that contains photos and descriptions of “extreme left-wing women” active in non-governmental organizations that the party says were involved in research led by the army unit responsible for gender issues in the military.
The party said that “continuous monitoring of [the unit’s] activities between 2001 and 2013 reveals the involvement of the following researchers in [the unit’s] investigations.”
1/publication: מקר במוסף שבט אקיטוב בעדען על “documentation” by מפלגת נעם. excluded driving directions for the “post-mothers” who conduct investigations on the account and identify people. Here is a table of gays and lesbians in communication. this is a known list, outside לארון. what you can be appealing to מפלגה to make a list of such?*in*. pic.twitter.com/AVmOjruMBI
— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@Nadav_Eyal) December 22, 2022
The party called these women part of a “secret team” in the army unit and averted a “radical feminist” takeover of the military.
The push for “integration of female fighters that continues with intensity today is taking place because of this group of women,” the party said in the internal document, according to the report.
Another part of the document revealed by Eyal outlines the “takeover” by “leftist” organizations and foundations of offices such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice, according to the party.
Listed organizations include the New Israel Fund, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the Israel Democracy Institute, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, and the Tali Education Fund, which runs Israel’s largest pluralistic Jewish studies program.
3/have other documents and they appear different שמות; Bogri technologist Miscellaneous related to rights. או של “חבורת נשמים זו” כלשון משחם אחר שאכראיט לתפיסת אנשי הרב טאו לשילוב נשים בעבלי לחימה בצע”ל. טורי מלא מקר במוסף שבת. https://t.co/kT0U9I3zT9
— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@Nadav_Eyal) December 22, 2022
In a somber and bitter speech on Thursday, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid referred to Noam’s “blacklists” and warned against the agenda put forward by Netanyahu’s coalition, accusing the Likud leader of being weak and dependent on extremist partners who want to send the country. down the road to ruin.
Lapid called Noam’s leader, Maoz, “a dark racist, a man who, it was announced today, has blacklists of LGBTQ people and activists in women’s organizations.”
Still, he said, “Moaz will be responsible for our children’s education.”
