Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz, an Orthodox rabbi, told Israel's Channel 12 TV: “I think it is possible to convert [someone's sexual orientation]. “I can say that I have a deep familiarity with the issue of education and I have done this too,” he added.
Conversion therapy, which can include hypnosis and electric shocks, is based on the belief that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender can be “cured.” And it has been widely discredited by medical experts as pseudo-science and condemned for causing emotional and psychological harm.
Peretz also described how he acted when a gay person told him about his sexuality. “First of all, I hugged him. I said really hot things to him. I told him, 'Let's think. Let's study. And let's contemplate. “The goal is, first of all, for him to know himself well… and then he will decide,” he said.
The minister later attempted to clarify his comments, saying he did not mean that gay children should be forced to undergo conversion therapy, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Peretz's comments were "unacceptable." “The education minister’s remarks about Community Pride are unacceptable to me and do not reflect the position of the government I lead,” he said.
The prime minister also released a statement saying he had spoken personally to Peretz to express his criticism.
He added that the Israeli education system “will continue to accept all Jewish children, whoever they are and without any differences based on sexual orientation.”
Nitzan Horowitz, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, condemned the comments, saying gay conversion therapy has caused extremely harsh circumstances for young people, including suicide.
Israel's LGBT Task Force, Aguda, also demanded Peretz's resignation.
