LGBTQ+ representatives meet with Liberman, seeking a new political home
The meeting included representatives from Israel's LGBTQ+ coalition that consists of 18 organizations.
By TOBIAS SIEGALRepresentatives from Israel's major LGBTQ+ organizations meet with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, Thursday, February 25, 2021.(photo credit: YISRAEL BEYTENU SPOKESPERSON)
Head of the Yisrael Beytenu party Avigdor Liberman met with representatives from Israel's major LGBTQ+ organizations on Thursday and reiterated his commitment to promoting a liberal government and providing equal rights to all citizens.The meeting included representatives from Israel's LGBTQ+ coalition which consists of 18 organizations. They met with Liberman and Yisrael Beytenu MK Eli Avidar ahead of the upcoming Israeli elections on March 23.During the meeting, Liberman said that he will not sit together with the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties in the Knesset and won't participate in a government that won't promote a civil framework for marriage and divorce in Israel for all of its citizens.Yisrael Beytenu had recently changed its policy toward the LGBTQ+ community, with five out of seven of its MKs consistently voting in favor of proposed laws that were meant to promote equal rights for the country's LGBTQ+ community.Such laws included for example the prohibition of conversion therapy and revisions to adoption and surrogacy laws.The LGBTQ+ representatives noted during the meeting that the political alliance signed between the Likud and political parties identified with LGBTQ-phobic views have led many LGBTQ+ individuals who align themselves with the right-wing, have begun looking for a new political home that will respect their identity."The next government has to be Zionist-Liberal and that cannot be done when Shas and United Torah Judaism are an inseparable part of it," Liberman said during the meeting. "Any party that says it will promote civil marriage laws and is also planning on sitting together with the haredi parties, is lying to you," he added.Attorney Or Keshet who serves as director of government relations at Aguda – Israel's LGBTQ+ Task Force, expressed hope that Yisrael Beytenu will continue to support LGBTQ+ rights and noted that it was the first right-wing party to do so."Yisrael Beytenu has proven itself as a supporter of LGBTQ+ equal rights ... and we see it as a partner in the struggle for equal rights. It is the first right-wing political party to support us during important votes in the Knesset and we hope to continue this partnership in the future," Keshet said. Representatives from the LGBTQ+ coalition have met with other political leaders in the past week, including Defense Minister Benny Gantz, MK Merav Michaeli (Labor) and Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), who expressed support in the LGBTQ+ community, but have so far refused to commit to presenting the issue as a condition for joining the next government.The representatives are expected to meet with additional political leaders in the following days.
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