Smotrich: ‘My voters don’t care if I’m a homophobe… they don’t give a damn about the gays’
In recording from a few months ago, far-right minister heard saying he could act against LGBTQ community without repercussions but concedes: ‘I won’t stone gays [to death]’.
Israel’s new Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted he could take measures against the LGBTQ community without suffering any repercussions from his political base because his voters “don’t give a damn” about “the gays,” according to a recording from a few months ago broadcast on Monday.
Without saying where the conversation took place, or whether it was before or after the November 1 national election, Kan said Smotrich had told a businessman who supports him: “A Sephardic, traditional person, you think they care about gays? They don’t give a damn. They tell me ‘I don’t have a problem with them,’ [but] do you think they care about me being against them?”
Asked specifically about active steps he might take against the LGBTQ community, Smotrich said supporters of his Religious Zionism party — including the head of the merchants union in Jerusalem’s popular Mahane Yehuda Market — are far more interested in his policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in his blanket refusal to join a coalition that relied on the Islamist Ra’am party, an ideological stance that sent Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the opposition for 18 months as Ra’am joined forces with the opposing political bloc.
The recording, published by the Kan public broadcaster, reveals Smotrich — the far-right head of the Religious Zionism party and a key figure in the new government — saying his voters know about his longtime anti-LGBTQ positions but are more interested in his opposition to bringing Arab parties into government.
“I may be a far-right person, a homophobe, racist, fascist, but my word is my bond,” he says in an apparently sarcastic attempt to use his detractor’s words.
“Listen, [the voter] knows I’m [against LGBTQs]. It doesn’t matter to them. I’m the only one who didn’t go with Ra’am and safeguards the Land of Israel for their grandchildren. They will have my back,” says Smotrich, who is now part of a hardline Netanyahu government widely seen as the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
He then appears to lay out the limits of how far he is willing to go in applying biblical mandates, in an apparent reciprocity: “I won’t stone gays [to death] and you won’t force me to eat shrimp.”
The recording comes to light with the government planning to change anti-discrimination laws — at Smotrich’s demand — in a way critics warn could enable private companies to refuse service to certain groups. A clause in the coalition deals stipulates that the law will be amended “in a way that will prevent harm to a private business that refrains from providing service or a product due to religious faith, on condition that it is a service or product that is not unique and for which an alternative can be found nearby and for a similar price.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
