Avi Maoz, a right-wing MK slated to join the incoming Netanyahu government, sparked outrage today when he compared forms of liberal Judaism to the darkness in the Chanukah story.

Mr Maoz, the only Knesset member of the extremist anti-LGBT party Noam, said in a speech in the Knesset that the Chanukah story was fitting for current times, noting that the Maccabees had to drive out the forces of Hellenistic Jews, who wanted to combine Judaism with comparatively liberal Greek culture.

Maoz is reportedly set to become a deputy minister in the new government and head of a newly-created authority for Jewish identity.

In what Knesset members described as a tirade, Mr Maoz said: “The spirit that the Greeks and the Hellenists tried to instil in the Jewish people is the real darkness.” He then sang several lines from the popular Hanukkah song “We Came to Expel the Darkness.”

Mr Maoz, who advocates for a far-right interpretation of Orthodox Judaism, and against Arabs, secularism, and Reform Judaism, spoke out against the state of schooling in Israel, claiming it was “influenced by foreign countries, by foreign funds and organisations and by foreign agendas.”

Mr Maoz said: “Anyone who tries to harm real Judaism is the darkness. Anyone who tries to create a new so-called liberal religion is the darkness.

“Anyone who, with international concealment and obfuscation, tries to brainwash the children of Israel with their agendas without the knowledge of the parents is the darkness."

Yesh Atid MK Michal Shir and Labour MK Naama Lazimi had reportedly shouted their disapproval at Mr Maoz’s comments from the Knesset podium.

MK Shir heckled: “Who are you to decide who is a good Jew and who is a bad Jew? Hutzpah."

Under Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition deal, Mr Maoz is slated to become deputy minister and have control over extracurricular content in schools. He has previously stated his intention to “cancel” gay pride parades in Israel, something prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has said will not happen.