Israel’s Likud signs coalition deal with anti-LGBTQ radical

JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a coalition deal with a small ultranationalist faction leader known for homophobic rhetoric and disparaging remarks about non-Orthodox Jews, a sign of the incoming government’s hardline makeup. Netanyahu’s Likud party announced Sunday that the deal names Noam faction leader Avi Maoz as a deputy minister in the prime minister’s office. Maoz is a hard-line Jewish fundamentalist and West Bank settler who is an outspoken opponent to LGBTQ rights and women serving in the military. He has opposed Arabs teaching Jewish students in Israeli schools. Maoz said the deal with Likud was the “first step in returning the soul to the country.”