MK Avi Maoz of the extremist anti-LGBT party Noam sparked outrage Wednesday after comparing the outgoing government to the Hellenizing Jews cast as the villains of the Hanukkah story.
Maoz, a far-right firebrand set to be given sway over curriculum in school and a new “Jewish identity” office as part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s nascent coalition, delivered a diatribe at the Knesset against the “darkness” of progressive values, to the sound of heckles and boos from fuming lawmakers across the aisle.
“The spirit that the Greeks and the Hellenists tried to instill in the Jewish people is the real darkness,” Maoz said, after singing several lines from the popular Hanukkah song “We Came to Expel the Darkness.”
“Anyone who tries to harm real Judaism is the darkness,” he said. “Anyone who tries to create a new so-called liberal religion is the darkness. Anyone who — with intentional concealment and obfuscation — tries to brainwash the children of Israel with their agendas, without the knowledge of the parents, is the darkness.”
Maoz also spoke out against the state of schooling, claiming it was “influenced by foreign countries, by foreign funds and organizations and by foreign agendas.”
During the speech, Maoz was heckled by several lawmakers, including Yesh Atid MKs Michal Shir and Yorai Lahav-Hertzano, as well as Labor MK Naama Lazimi.
“Who are you to decide who is a good Jew and who is a bad Jew? Hutzpah,” Shir shouted from her seat.
