Members of the Labor party’s youth division were outside the home of Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz on Monday to demand his removal from his cabinet post. The young protesters announced that for as long as Peretz is in charge of the country’s education, they will not return to class, referring to his recent comments against the toeiva community.

In his remarks, Peretz spoke about members of the toeiva community undergoing ‘conversion therapy’ to bring them back to the mainstream. He later issued a clarification, that as a cabinet minister, in the nation’s school system, every student is treated equally, but as an individual and a rav, the Torah teaches us a different lifestyle. His clarification did not calm the opposition and there is a growing effort in Israel demanding he be removed from his post.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)