The King of Bahrain reminds the Israeli president of the “legitimate rights of the Palestinians” in the unprecedented visit to the Arab country
The controversy aroused by the incorporation into the new Israeli coalition government of a deputy from the homophobic Noam party, Avi Maoz, today forced the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to justify the decision and calm the agitated spirits. The leader has assured that the country’s LGBTQ community will continue to enjoy the protection of the Executive, despite the fact that Maoz will be in charge of a special department with powers over the right to citizenship and schooling projects in the country.
“I have not the slightest intention of allowing them to come to harm. I’m not saying it now. I have always had both hands on the wheel and, ultimately, politics is decided by me,” he said in statements to the Meet the Press program, on the American network NBC.
Netanyahu has thus responded to criticism such as that of the mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, who warned on Friday that the country is heading towards a “fascist theocracy” with the incorporation of elements linked to ultranationalism and religious fundamentalism into the new Israeli Executive. . He was referring in this way to the appointment of Maoz and also to the alliance with the radical Religious Zionism coalition.
excessive transfer
Even members of Netanyahu’s own party, the Likud, acknowledged that the concessions to Maoz during the coalition negotiations were a mistake, according to reports broadcast on Channel 12.
These sources explained that the negotiators did not realize the importance of the powers that Maoz was receiving, who in addition to the power to decide the circumstances of citizenship, could also impose educational content through conferences of organizations outside the Ministry of Education, in what is considered for all intents and purposes its own “Jewish identity department.” “We have given him the keys to the kingdom and now it is too late to turn back,” they added.
On the other hand, the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has met today with the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, in what is the first visit by an Israeli head of state to the small Arab kingdom of the Gulf since it was They normalized relations in 2020.
At the meeting, the monarch defended the “legitimate rights of the Palestinians” and reiterated “the firm position” of his country when it comes to achieving “a fair, comprehensive and sustainable solution that guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
In relation to this conflict, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has assured, in statements to J Street, a progressive pro-Israel group, that Washington will oppose Israeli settlements or the annexation of the West Bank, but promised to judge the government Netanyahu’s incoming party because of his actions and not because of the far-right profile of any of its members.
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