An Orthodox Israeli rabbi had described
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as divine “revenge” against
LGBT Pride events.
Rabbi Meir Mazuz, an influential
Sephardic rabbi, had previously promised that the virus would not
reach Israel “because we are strict about the words of the Torah by
washing hands and the rest of the commandments,” Israel
Hayom
reported. As of Saturday, the number of coronavirus cases in
Israel was at 178.
"The Pride Parade is a parade
against nature, and whoever acts against nature, he who created
nature will avenge him. When you do things against nature, you are
sticking your hand in the fire and praying that the fire will not
burn you. It will burn you! Here they have the insolence to revolt
against nature, the Pride Parade, what are you proud of?" Muzuz
said during a talk at the Kiseh Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, which
he heads.
"All the countries that have this
[evil] are all [suffering from the coronavirus] except for the Arab
states that do not have this evil inclination, this thing, and aren't
suffering from this disease.”
He explained that Iran's outbreak was
because they “are horrible Israel haters.”
"They say that in Tunisia there's
just one person who's been diagnosed with the coronavirus, and none
in the rest of the Arab world, except Iran where people have bad
character traits and are horrible Israel haters. [Arabs] avoid eating
dangerous things (unkosher food) and being like us," Mazuz
claimed.
The Israeli chapter of the
Anti-Defamation League condemned Mazuz's remarks.
“It is very regrettable and
unfortunate that in the moments that the entire world is united in
order to eradicate the coronavirus, Rabbi Mazuz finds it correct to
blame the LGBTQ community, and to treat members [of the community] as
if they were responsible for the outbreak of the disease. We strongly
condemn these words and call on the rabbi to apologize,” the group
said in a Facebook post.