Large rejection in Israel of the minister who asked to cure homosexuals

These comments, that Peretz He did it on Saturday night during an interview with Channel 12 television channel, which is an episode of more controversial statements by this minister, at the head of a religious nationalist party.

Asked if he was in favor of the so-called "conversion therapies" and if he thought he could "change a homobadual", Peretz, also a rabbi, replied: "I think it's possible".

"I have a thorough knowledge of education and I have already done it," he added, referring to the case of a student who had told him that "I have a lot of education and I have done it already," he added. he was homobadual.

Peretz said having hugged him, rebadured him and offered him to "think well and decide for himself".

"If a minister of education says that sort of thing, that his attitude and his intentions toward the education system are obvious, it takes us back to periods of obscurantism."said Nadav Burstein, one of the protesters in Tel Avibv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed into his government the Union of Right-wing parties led by Peretz after the April 9 elections, officially condemned the statements of the Minister of Education.

"The comments of the Minister of Education on the gay community are not acceptable and do not reflect the position of the government I lead," he said Saturday evening in a statement.

But Netanyahu, which heads the government considered the most conservative in Israeli history, has shown no intention to dismiss the minister, as demanded by several opposition members.

He said he spoke with Peretz "who clarified his comments and emphasized that the Israeli education system would continue to accept all the children of Israel as they are, regardless of their badual orientation."

The "conversion therapies" They have been widely recognized, including by the Israeli Ministry of Health, as unscientific and potentially dangerous to young people.