Incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party on Sunday, was considering legislation to protect the rights of the LGBTQ community, after comments made by coalition partners that services could be denied, on the basis of religious beliefs, sources in the Likud said.
Religious Zionist party MK Orit Strock said earlier in an interview, that she will introduce a bill in which doctors would be allowed to opt-out of care that does not align with Jewish law.
She referred to a 2012 decree issued by then chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, as justification, causing outrage in political opposition circles and in the media.
Yosef – also the founder of the Shas Party, ruled that a Jewish doctor should not work on the Sabbath, in order to save the life of a non-Jew.
The controversy came to light when details of the coalition agreement signed by incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Religious Zionist party, became known.
According to the agreement, the government will amend Israel's legislated Prohibition of Discrimination in Products, Services, and Entry into Places of Entertainment and Public Places Law, to allow any private business to refuse to provide a service or product on the basis of religious belief when an alternative is available in geographical proximity at a similar cost.
The amendment raises concerns over the introduction of gender segregation in businesses or refusal to provide services to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“As long as there are enough other doctors who can provide a service, it is forbidden to force a physicians to provide treatment if it goes against their religious beliefs," Strock said in an interview.
The amendment will therefore allow for a Jewish doctor to refuse to treat a non-Jewish person, based on Yosef's decree.
In response to a Ynet request for comment, the Religious Zionist party said that the amendment to the law will not apply to doctors but only to professionals "such as a hairdresser who does not want to serve women".
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against Strock’s comments and insisted that the LGBTQ+ rights will not be compromised during the term of his government.
“[Strock’s comments] are not acceptable to me and my friends in Likud," Netanyahu said. "The coalition agreements do not allow for LGBT people to be discriminated against or for their rights to receive services like any other citizen in Israel, to be compromised,” Netanyahu said.
“Likud will ensure that there will be no harm done to LGBT people or the rights of any Israeli citizen. None of this happened throughout my 15 years in office, and it will not happen now," Netanyahu said.
Yosef’s decree was made during a lesson on Jewish religious Shabbat rules, when considering how religious Jewish doctors should act when required to care for a non-Jewish patient on the Sabbath. Shabbat.
Yosef said that while the Jewish law allows to provide medical treatment even during the Sabbath, according to the Torah it is forbidden for a Jewish man to treat someone who is not Jewish during Shabbat.
Should the new clause be passed in the way presented by Strock’s draft of her bill, Jewish doctors could decide to follow the strict religious rulings and refuse to treat non-Jewish people on Saturdays.
Israeli healthcare organizations denounced Strock’s remarks. Prof. Zion Hagai, head of the Israeli Medical Association told Ynet that doctors were bound by their oath above all.
“As doctors, we have a medical oath and ethics that compound us to treat every patient with no regard to religion, race, gender, sexual orientation or skin color,” Hagai said. “We can’t stray from it even if there are certain rules that discriminate one group over another. Strock doesn’t understand the physician’s oath and our commitment as doctors.”
President Isaac Herzog talked with Netanyahu following concerns of the international community about the anti-LGBTQ remarks made by Netanyahu’s coalition, including those made by Struck.
In their talk, Herzog told Netanyahu he intends to talk to Knesset members about the topic in order to ensure that the LGBTQ and other communities will face no harm or discrimination in the future.