Noam (political party)

Noam (Hebrew: נעם, lit., Pleasantness) is an Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionist, right-wing political party in Israel, established in July 2019 by a very conservative faction in the Religious Zionist community inspired by Rabbi Zvi Thau and his Har Hamor Yeshiva. The party's main goal is to advance policies against LGBT rights, and against what its backers call "the destruction of the family".[1]

Noam

נעם
ChairmanRabbi Dror Aryeh
Spiritual LeaderRabbi Zvi Thau
Founded15 July 2019
IdeologyReligious Zionism
Religious conservatism
Social conservatism
Halachic state
Anti-Secularism
Anti-LGBT[1]
Political positionFar-right[2]
ReligionOrthodox Judaism (Chardal)[3]
Colours     Blue
     Light Blue
Slogan"A Normal Nation in Our Own Land"
Knesset
0 / 120
Election symbol
כ
Website
noamparty.org.il

History

The party's basis is in Rabbi Zvi Thau and his Har Hamor Yeshiva. Rabbi Thau and his followers believe that HaBayit HaYehudi, led by Rabbi Rafi Peretz, and Tkuma, led by Bezalel Smotrich, have not sufficiently advanced Jewish values – particularly in the realm of opposition to LGBT rights, protection of the Shabbat as a day of rest, and the protection of the Orthodox conversion process. Following Rabbi Thau's disappointment with the parties of the Union of the Right-Wing Parties, he and his followers decided to form the Noam party. While Rabbi Thau is the party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Dror Aryeh is the political leader of the party.[4] Another student of Thau that is involved in the creation of the party is Rabbi Shlomo Aviner. He said that: "The party will fight against the destruction of the family, against the destruction of conversion, against the destruction of Shabbat, against the destruction of the Western Wall, and against the use of deviant content in the IDF and the Education Ministry."[1]

The Noam party was reported to be in talks with the Otzma Yehudit party, which split recently from the United Right, for a possible joint run. In 2015, Otzma Yehudit allied itself with the Yachad party of former Shas chief Eli Yishai, running on a joint ticket for the 2015 Israeli legislative election. Rabbi Thau endorsed the joint ticket, marking the first time the Har Hamor dean had explicitly endorsed a political party.[5] On 28 July, Noam and Otzma Yehudit agreed to run on a joint list for the September 2019 Israeli legislative election.[2] The agreement between Noam and Otzma Yehudit was dissolved on 1 August because Noam disagreed with Otzma having secular Jewish candidates.[6] Noam filed its list independently of any other party,[7] though it withdrew from the race on 15 September.[8]

Controversy

The party released a homophobic video under the comment: "An entire country is going through conversion therapy. The time has come to stop it." In the video, a mother, father, and son go to vote on election day in September, and the family is "bombarded" with LGBT and Reform imagery. Once they reach the voting booth, the mother writes on her voting slip, "Let my son marry a woman", while the father writes, "Let my grandson be Jewish".[9] The video was removed by YouTube for violating its terms of use.[1]

References
  1. Sharon, Jeremy (17 July 2019). "Anti-LGBT Noam Party set to run in September election". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. Jeremy Sharon (28 July 2019). "Peretz concedes top spot on joint list to Shaked". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  3. Jacob Magid (29 July 2019). "As rest of right unites, Kahane disciples declare merger with anti-LGBT party". The Times of Israel.
  4. Avitan Cohen, Shirit (9 July 2019). "מאחורי הקלעים: מפלגת הרב טאו בשלבי בדיקה והתארגנות". Makor Rishon. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  5. Rosenberg, David (15 July 2019). "New Religious Zionist party named". Israel National News. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  6. Hezki Baruch (1 August 2019). "Otzma Yehudit and Noam cancel joint run". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. David Rosenberg (1 August 2019). "Right-wing Noam party files for independent Knesset run". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  8. Michael Bachner (15 September 2019). "Fringe far-right party Noam quits Knesset race 2 days before elections". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  9. Polon, Tal (15 July 2019). "Watch: New Religious Zionist party's first campaign video". Israel National News. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
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