More than 170 school principals on Saturday addressed incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him to reverse his decision to transfer educational powers to far-right Noam party chairman Avi Maoz.
Maoz is known for his homophobic views. He has already made statements that he will seek the cancellation of the annual Pride March in Jerusalem.
"We cannot let gloomy opinions dictate the agenda," the educators wrote.
Prior to that, nearly 600 teachers and other education professionals also signed a letter saying they will not cooperate with programs that contradict "the humanistic values found in state education law and the values of equality and democracy."
Reacting to this outcry, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced on Saturday evening the launch of a hotline for parents to express their disapproval of the future decisions of the far-right politician.
Lapid called on parents to oppose the "extreme and dangerous content" which will be promoted by the future member of the new coalition, when he will have effective control over certain aspects of school programs as well as over the external speakers invited to express their views in public schools as Netanyahu promised him.
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Outgoing Prime Minister has started a hotline to report homophobic material in schools
(Photo: Rafi Ben Hacoun)
The leader of Yesh Atid urged parents to contact local authorities and schools to ensure that "liberal content" is well taught, and not "the dark, homophobic, nationalist and violent doctrine" of Noam. He added that the hotline launched by his party will be used to "collect information on attempts to insert dark content into the education system," as well as to provide legal advice to parents.
Earlier, Lapid sent an official letter to the mayors of the country asking them to oppose the directives of the next education minister. As protest reactions mounted against Maoz's appointment, Likud member Galit Distel Atbaryan told Channel 12 that Noam could do nothing without Netanyahu's approval.
Reprinted with permission from i24NEWS