The planned Jerusalem gay parade continues to cause uproar – this time in the coalition: The religious Shas party has not yet decided whether or not to support the government when the Knesset votes Monday night on a no-confidence motion filed by United Torah Judaism opposing the World Pride parade scheduled for August in Jerusalem. Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef stipulated that the government clarify its opposition to the march and actively try to have the parade moved to another city.
Despite Rabbi Yosef’s vehement stance, Shas officials explained this did not indicate a coalition crisis, but only a “fleeting embarrassment.”
“United Torah Judaism is trying the embarrass us to raise its price for entering the coalition, but we’ll remind the public that the one responsible for the situation is (Jerusalem) Mayor Uri Lupolianski, who is from the UTJ party,” the Shas members said.
It should be noted that the no-confidence motion, which was born in the home of UTJ’s Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, was coordinated with Shas leaders, with the clear intention of pushing the government into a corner, and forcing it to press police and the Jerusalem municipality to move the parade to a different city. With that, in the coalition, and principally in Shas, a solution was found that does not directly address the parade – a large number of Shas lawmakers will be offset by opposition MKs, and the rest will leave the Knesset hall during the vote.
'No real reason to be proud'
On Friday Ynet reported that police confirmed the intention was to move the parade out of Jerusalem, although nothing final has been established yet. Police officers officially attributed the possible transfer of the march to their concern regarding the size of the event and the resulting complications in securing it. “In Tel Aviv, they are more accustomed to such large events, so it would be better to hold this event there too,” police said. However, the capital regularly deals with local and international events which are no less complicated, and thus the police’s explanation omits the obvious political and social motivations behind the move.
On Monday Minister Jacob Edery said he planned to speak out against holding the pride parade in Jerusalem at the Knesset plenum, irrelevant of the government’s stance on the issue. As the minister tasked with linking the Knesset and the Cabinet, Edery is also slated to present to parliament Monday evening the Cabinet’s response to the no-confidence motion levied against it. Edery said he intended to appeal to the Jerusalem municipality and city police to examine alternate locations for the march.
Another senior source in the government added: “The government won’t stick its healthy head into this sickbed.”
But the problems do not end here. MK Moshe Sharoni of the Pensioners’ Party plans to skip the vote, as do many MKs from the Labor party. A Knesset official summed up the mini-tempest surrounding the parade, saying, “The government won’t lose today. But it has no real reason to be proud.”