Benjamin Netanyahu, likely to become Israel’s next prime minister, has vowed the incoming government will not make any changes to LGBT rights, despite his alliance with with right-wing, anti-gay politicians.
A coalition of far-right factions comprise the Religious Zionism party, which has won 14 seats in Israel’s parliament, more than 10% of the total 120 Knesset.
One of the factions, Noam, is vocal about its anti-LGBT agenda.
Its head, MK Avi Maoz, told Army Radio on Thursday it would look into legally canceling the annual gay pride parade in Jerusalem, calling it a an “offensive provocation for the holy city.”
“What a person does in his own private home is his business and I don’t intend on getting involved,” Maoz said.
He also seemed to suggest that he would investigate overturning a ban on conversion therapy, and permit “psychological advice for those who don’t want to be gay.”
Religious Zionism MK Orit Strock said Thursday that members of the LGBT community have nothing to worry about.
“We’re not going to hammer anyone,” she said. “We will serve all citizens, including those who do not think like us and whose lifestyles are different.”
File/Participants wave gay rainbow pride flags during the 18th annual Jerusalem Gay Pride parade on June 06, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)
Strock said her party will, however, “bring order to the public space.”
“Regardless of pride, there shouldn’t be marches of people walking down the street naked or half naked,” Strock said.
“The problem is with years-long efforts, not just here but around the world, to force things on the public.”
LGBT rights in Israel are considered to be the most developed in the Middle East and some of the most inclusive in the world. Same-sex marriage is not recognized because all marriages are performed through the Chief Rabbinate, but Israel recognizes same-sex marriages performed abroad in the same way it recognizes heterosexual civil marriages.
Same-sex couples have full adoption rights, and Israel has openly gay party heads. Its current Health Minister is Nitzan Horowitz, who is openly gay.
Thousands of people participate in the Tel Aviv Pride Parade on June 10, 2022 in Jerusalem, Israel. The annual Pride Parade draws thousands of people from around the world and across Israel. According to a 2019 report it is the largest pride parade on the continent of Asia. (Alexi Rosenfeld /Getty Images)
MK Amir Ohana, an openly gay member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, recently defended Netanyahu’s allyship with the anti-gay Noam, saying it was certainly better than an alliance with an Islamist party that “opposes the idea of a Jewish state.”
The Islamist Ra’am party is in the outgoing ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and is the first time an Arab party has sat in Israel’s government.
“I can promise that there will not be any anti-gay legislation, nothing that sends us back in time,” Ohana said.
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