A wide-ranging interview in tabloid Yedioth Ahronot with Rabbi Rafi Peretz, the education minister, caused a storm this week over his views concerning LGBT rights.
When asked how he would react if one of his children would come out as being gay, he answered that since they were “raised in a natural and healthy way”, that could not be the case. Instead, he continued, his children are “building their homes based on Jewish values” and living in “normative” families.
While it was his homophobic views that made the main headlines, Mr Peretz additionally used the interview to say he supported stopping children of illegal immigrants from studying in Israeli schools, even if that meant deporting them to dangerous countries.
He also said Palestinians would not be able to elect members to the Knesset even after an Israeli annexation of the West Bank and that his electoral partners from Jewish Power, the far-right Kahanist party, were “moderated” and are “legitimate”.
Following the interview, opposition politicians called for Mr Peretz’s resignation, while a number of mayors in Tel Aviv and neighbouring cities directed the schools in their local councils to dedicate an hour to talking with students on themes of tolerance and acceptance on Sunday.
The main teachers’ unions also criticised the minister and supported the mayors’ decision.
Even some members of Mr Peretz’s Jewish Home party questioned the wisdom of giving such an interview at such a politically sensitive time and said it was further proof of the lack of political experience of the man who became party leader only nine months ago.
Jewish Home, which ran in the last election in a joint list together with the New Right and National Union, currently has only two Knesset members.
Mr Peretz is a follower of the influential Rabbi Ziv Tau, who is the most forceful spokesperson in Israel against LGBT rights and has accused those promoting them of “destroying the family and the nation.”
Mr Peretz has previously voiced support for “conversion therapy” for young men who believe they are gay.
He eventually retracted those remarks, knowing that even within the religious community which he claims to represent, views on this issue are much more nuanced.
The furore over Mr Peretz’s Yedioth interview has fed into the dismal launch of Jewish Home’s election campaign.
Last month, without consulting party colleagues or his National Union partners, he signed a deal with Jewish Power’s Itamar Ben Gvir to run a join list in which the Jewish supremacist would have the third spot.
But since signing the deal, Mr Peretz has been under attack for going behind his allies’ backs.
On Tuesday, National Union’s Bezalel Smotrich, who ran together with Jewish Home in the two elections of 2019, was still refusing to link up with Mr Peretz.
Meanwhile, Naftali Bennett’s New Right has categorically ruled out joining Jewish Home and is running independently in its own list. For the moment, it appears Mr Smotrich is going with Mr Bennett.
On Sunday night, scuffles broke out in a meeting of Jewish Home’s central committee as members argued over Mr Peretz’s demand that he be given authority to hold negotiations with the sister parties and decide the list.
Ultimately, he won the vote, but with hour to go until the deadline to declare election candidates, Jewish Home is woefully disorganised and still does not know who it will be running with in the March 2 election.
