Chairman of the Noam party, Deputy Minister MK Avi Maoz, who is a self-defining homophobe sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing his resignation as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. "In accordance with Article 26(1) of the Basic Law: The Government, I hereby announce my resignation from my position as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of the Interior. I will continue in as a partner in the coalition to support all the moves that we agreed on together, including the all-important legislation to restore the balance between the legislative and judicial authorities, and more."

Israeli reports by Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv initially phrased the resignation as a danger to the coalition, but as mentioned by Maoz in his letter, he will not be leaving the coalition and therefore the majority needed will remain intact. 

[Good Riddance 👏] Avi Maoz announced his resignation from government. Chairman of [biggoted] 'Noam party' handed PM Binyamin Netanyahu letter of resignation from his position as deputy minister and his continued membership in the coalition as a member of the Knesset. #Israel pic.twitter.com/7jBnXT9sqL

— Eli Dror (@edrormba) February 27, 2023

Maoz wrote in his letter that he was unable to advance the goals for which he entered the coalition: "As you know, I have tried throughout the last two months, since the formation of the government, to act to implement the agreements between us, while creating cooperation with the members of the ministers, in order to cancel the procedures of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Health from the Lapid government, procedures whose purpose is to change our basic concepts as the people of Israel and the Jewish family. 

“I also tried, together with my coalition members, to get a new state position written for the Western Wall by the High Court, according to which the government will work to preserve the sanctity of the Western Wall and stop the actions to divide it.

Maoz remains a part of the governing coalition but leaves his ministerial post.

— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) February 27, 2023

I also tried to take action to return dignity to the official forms and documents of the government ministries, as we promised our voters and as we signed in the coalition agreement between us, but all of these have not been successful for now."

Maoz concluded that the Netanyahu government had not respected their coalition agreement and used him as a pawn to expedite the process of creating a stable government. "In addition, to my astonishment, I discovered that there is no serious intention to uphold the coalition agreement regarding the Jewish National Identity Authority. Therefore, I have decided to resign from the position of Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and fulfill my duties as a full member of the Knesset in the coalition."