What does Rabbi Moshe Abubtbol, the town’s Sefardi haredi Shas Party
mayor – who was reelected late last month on a wave of massive haredi
voter fraud allegedly carried out by his cronies – think of gays and
lesbians?
Rabbi Moshe Abutbol
Haredi Mayor Of Beit Shemesh Says Town Has No Gays Or Lesbians, Says Gays And Lesbians Are Criminals And Ill
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Beit Shemesh, a bedroom suburb of both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem founded by secular and Zionist Orthodox Israelis, is now about equally split between haredim and non-haredim.
What does Rabbi Moshe Abubtbol, the town’s Sefardi haredi Shas Party mayor – who was reelected late last month on a wave of massive haredi voter fraud allegedly carried out by his cronies – think of gays and lesbians?
Not much, Ynet reported.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 Friday, Abutbul was asked if the Beit Shemesh has any gay or lesbian residents.
"We have no such thing. If you mean what I think you mean – then no. Thank God, this city is holy and pure,” Abutbol said – clearly meaning that gyas and lesbians are impure and not holy.
Asked how the city government would deal with any gays or lesbians if they did live in the city, Abutbol sniped, "There's the Health Ministry, let them handle it. The Health Ministry, the police,” clearly implying being gay or lesbian is both an illness and a crime – a shocking accusation, especially coming from a man whose political party is led by a convicted felon and who himself is surrounded by haredim who are under criminal investigation for voter fraud.
Israeli law does not view homosexuality as a crime or as an illness.
"As one who was born and raised in Beit Shemesh, I can only lament the transformation the city has undergone in the past couple of years. Xenophobia, ignorance, homophobia and racism have replaced the warming of hearts which once characterized Beit Shemesh. I studied at a religious school in a tolerant atmosphere which embraced the other instead of rejecting him. Abutbul's Judaism is not the Judaism I learned as a child. Beit Shemesh had gay residents long before Abutbul,” Elinor Sidi, the director of the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, and former Beit Shemesh resident, said.
"There are hundreds of gay men and women in Beit Shemesh and it saddens me that he thinks we should be treated by the Health Ministry and the police. He is a contemptible man who is not worthy of being an elected public official. He is unaware of the situation in the city, he chooses to see only the yeshivas. If he has a problem, he's welcome to pack his bags and move to [the haredi city of] Bnei Brak. We will not be silent,” Segev Israel Afriat, a resident of Beit Shemesh, reportedly said.