Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz has spoken of his belief in therapy to convert gays to heterosexuality and claimed he has engaged in the practice, leading to calls for him to be sacked.
The comments late Saturday in a television interview were only the latest controversial views voiced by the recently installed minister who heads a far-right party popular with Israeli settlers.
Asked by Israel's Channel 12 whether he was in favour of so-called conversion therapy and if he believed he could change a gay person, Peretz, who is also a rabbi, said "I think you can, I think you can." "I can tell you that I have a deep knowledge of education, and I have done it too," he said.
He then talked about a student who approached him and told him he was gay. Peretz said he hugged him, was kind to him and sought to help him "understand himself well and then decide on his own."
He said he spoke with Peretz "who clarified his remarks and stressed the Israeli education system will continue to accept all of Israel's children as they are, without any regard to their sexual orientation."