While many know privately of the party member’s sexual orientation, he does not discuss it publicly.īut the big problem for the Zionist Union in trumpeting support for gay marriage is the prospect of post-election coalition-building mathematics. The center-left Labor Party – now part of the Zionist Union – has had to struggle with the topic being something of a hot potato, after a gay activist tried to put pressure on party leader Isaac Herzog to “out” a high-ranking member of the party who is in the closet. His party, Yesh Atid, which stakes out a centrist position, has made a direct appeal to the LGBT community, pointing out that Health Minister Yael German in the previous government took an active role against job discrimination and helping same-sex couples pursue having children through surrogacy, and that Lapid, as finance minister, helped same-sex parents gain tax credits for their children. Yair Lapid has been actively campaigning for LGBT votes. Recently, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) spoke out in favor of gay marriage, calling marriage “every person's human right, without regard to race, sex, or sexual orientation."
As number 32 on the Likud list, he won’t make it into the Knesset, but the influence of gay Likudniks is increasing. There is a small but active gay wing in the rightist Likud party, and its leader, Amir Ohana, won the Tel Aviv district in the Likud primary. As more and more gay people have left the closet, however, it has become increasingly clear that their views unrelated to LGBT rights span the political spectrum. The first two openly gay members of Knesset – Uzi Even and Nitzan Horowitz – were both members of the Meretz party.
Historically in Israel, gay rights and far left-wing political positions have been inseparable.
If Habayit Hayehudi is the party the LGBT community wants people to “remember” not to vote for – who do they support? The activism also entered the virtual realm, with Bennett’s Facebook page bombarded with photos of two male actors playing gay IDF soldiers in the film “Yossi & Jagger” as they embraced in the snow. In one high-profile incident at a prestigious high school, a student who is the child of a gay couple confronted Bennett wearing the T-shirt, “I have two mothers and I’m not apologizing for it.” At one, they were attacked when they flew a rainbow Pride flag during a Bennett speech in Haifa, and they made a similar demonstration at an appearance by Ronen Shoval in Tel Aviv. It goes against Judaism.”Īnd so LGBT activists have been making a point of showing at Habayit Hayehudi events. Party leader Bennett has maintained his trademark “no apologies” stance, saying, “Of course we oppose single-sex marriages. This continued after the primaries when party member Bezalel Smotrich, who organized a countermarch to a Gay Pride Parade in 2006 and has dubbed himself a “proud homophobe,” said that gays should limit their “abnormal behavior” to their homes.Īnother candidate, Yehudit Shilat, said in a radio interview that sanctioning homosexuality was tantamount to suicide. The video sparked an angry reaction and opened a Pandora’s Box of attention for the party.