Noam Signs Agreement to Join Coalition

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party signed a coalition agreement with the religious Noam party on Sunday evening, bringing it a step closer to forming a government.

Noam will be given an authority within the Prime Minister’s Office to focus on national Jewish identity, according to a statement from a Likud spokesperson.

The authority is to be headed by Noam leader MK Avi Maoz, who will have the rank of deputy minister in the PMO.

Noam, which ran as part of the Religious Zionism party, has just one seat in the Knesset.

Maoz will also be in charge of Nativ, which manages immigration to Israel from the former Soviet Union.

Along with other religious parties in the incoming government, Noam seeks to tighten eligibility under the Law of Return that governs Jewish immigration rights, specifically close the so-called grandfather clause that enables the non-Jewish grandchildren of Jews to obtain citizenship.

It was unclear, however, how much say Noam will have on the immigration issues through the creation of this new office.