Israeli Orthodox Lawmaker Asked To Resign Over Attending Gay Nephew’s Wedding

By: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — A popular politician lawmaker Yigal Guetta, went on a radio show this past weekend to promote his daughter’s new music single as well as to show a more progressive side of the members of his party, the ultra-Orthodox Shas.

However things didn’t go as planned when Yigal Guetta went on the air. While attempting to target a more liberal and moderate audience for his party, Guetta revealed in the radio interview that he had attended the wedding of his gay nephew.

After this was aired, Rabbis and ultra-Orthodox Shas activists revolted and demanded that Guetta immediately resign over his actions.

Under intense pressure from not only politicians but social media, Guetta, 51, told Aryeh Deri, the party leader, that he was resigning. Mr. Deri agreed to accept his resignation.

But that wasn’t the end of this drama because many Israelis say that it was outrageous for Guetta to be forced to resign simply because of the rabbis and their refusal to accept that he was merely attending a family member’s wedding. Many say that the rabbis and members of Guetta’s party are using their srictly interpretation of Jewish law to justify their bigotry and prejudice.

After the surprise backlash by moderate Israelis and several party members, Guetta is now in negotiations with the Shas Party’s council of sages, who released a statement claiming that the party was less upset about his attendance at the wedding than his disclosure of that information in the radio interview.

Sources say that negotiations are almost complete and it appears that Mr. Guetta would apologize for giving the interview but he would not apologize for attending his nephew’s gay wedding. He will be able to retain his place in the party and his seat in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament. Should Guetta and the party fail to come to an agreement, he would have to formally resign from his position in a written letter to the Knesset chairman which as of the reporting of this article, Guetta has not taken any steps to do.