Likud minister insists far-right rapper won’t be in his party

An Israeli rapper known for his far-right views and provocative online presence will not be permitted to become a member of the ruling party, Likud minister Tzachi Hanegbi said on Sunday.

Yoav Eliasi, who goes by the stage name Hatzel — Hebrew for The Shadow — filled in the necessary paperwork to join the Likud party on Tuesday, with the help of the colorful Likud MK Oren Hazan.

The 38-year-old Eliasi, who has over 220,000 Facebook fans, has gained notoriety for his hard-line, inflammatory posts — and the even more inflammatory comments on his posts — that often single out Arabs and left-wing figures.

Hanegbi told Army Radio the rapper “will not become a member of the party because his views are incompatible with the Likud.”

Asked how he would prevent Eliasi from joining the party, the minister refused to elaborate, and repeated that he would not be allowed in.

Eliasi has in the past called for paramedics to harvest the organs of Palestinians killed during attacks on Israelis so that they can be used to save Jews. He has also proposed that dead attackers be castrated to frustrate their belief in a reward of 72 virgins in heaven.

In his most recent controversial statement, on Thursday, he said Likud MK Benny Begin’s daughter had converted to Islam and his son throws rocks at IDF soldiers.

Following the completion of Eliasi’s paperwork, Hazan exclaimed that due to the rapper’s social media following, his membership would bring the party an electoral boost equivalent to five extra seats.

Hazan said the two “have a lot in common” and are both “fed up with the political correctness that has taken over” the Knesset.

פנים חדשות במפלגת השלטון: הצל התפקד לליכודhttps://t.co/Cg9RvH76ip@attaliami pic.twitter.com/mS3qfY4SSa

— ידיעות אחרונות (@YediotAhronot) August 3, 2016

“The public is fed up with the fawning, cowardly leftist dialogue. Not for nothing does Yoav have a quarter of a million followers on social media networks,” Hazan said. “We are both free of political correctness.

Elias reportedly responded to Hazan’s comments by declaring that he wanted to “throw dollars at every word” of Hazan’s Knesset speeches, and promising to draft his followers, known as “The Shadow’s Lions,” to form a “Likud Guard.”

The rapper, who rose to fame in the 1990s as part of a double act before sinking into bankruptcy by 2011, hinted that he might try to seek a place on the parliamentary list of the party, which is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.