Noam (political party)

Noam (נעם; officially known as Lazuz) is a far-right Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionist political party in Israel, officially established in July 2019 by an extremely 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". Avi Maoz, the party's leader, was elected to the Knesset in 2021, and is the party's sole representative.

History
Noam was founded in July 2019. Its basis is in Rabbi Zvi Thau and his Har Hamor Yeshiva. Thau and his followers believed that The Jewish Home, then led by Rafi Peretz, and Tkuma, led by Bezalel Smotrich, hadn't 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 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 became the party's political leader. Another student of Thau involved in the creation of the party was 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."

The Noam party was reported to be in talks with the Otzma Yehudit party, which had recently split from the United Right, for a possible joint run. Thau endorsed the joint ticket, marking the first time he had explicitly endorsed a political party. On 28 July, Noam and Otzma Yehudit agreed to run on a joint list for the September 2019 Israeli legislative election. The agreement between Noam and Otzma Yehudit was dissolved on 1 August 2019 because Noam disagreed with Otzma having secular Jewish candidates. Noam filed to run alone, before withdrawing from the race on 15 September.

The party formed a joint list with Otzma Yehudit after allowing women and secular candidates on the list prior to the 2021 Israeli legislative election. Both parties then ran on a joint list with the Religious Zionist Party, with the party's leader, Avi Maoz, receiving the 6th spot. Maoz was subsequently elected to the Knesset as the list won six seats.

The three parties agreed to run jointly in the 2022 Israeli legislative election on 14 September 2022, with Maoz receiving in the 11th spot. On 20 November 2022, both Noam and Otzma Yehudit split from the RZP, ending their technical bloc. On 27 November 2022, Noam reached a coalition agreement with Likud. On 3 January 2023, Maoz became a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, responsible for external programs in the Ministry of Education.

Political and religious positions
Noam argues that public sector entities, including the Ministry of Education and the IDF, have been infiltrated by what their 2019 platform refers to as "Radical Liberal agendas", "LGBT and Reform organizations", and "Foreign entities ... promoting a liberal and feminist worldview". The party advocates for what it terms "traditional family values", opposes same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, and additionally supports stricter restrictions during the Sabbath and granting more authority to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, with Maoz stating in 2022 that Noam will "... introduce a fourth branch of government, the Chief Rabbinate".

Controversies
The party released a 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". The video was removed by YouTube for violating its terms of use.

In 2022, Ynet reported that Noam was keeping a list of women advising the Gender Affairs Advisor to the Chief of Staff, as well as LGBT educators and members of the press. The lists drew criticism from public figures and politicians, including then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid.