The Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, sent a letter of support to the Ashkenazi rabbi, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, following his remarks against gender disorientation organization (GDO) protests.
"I was very sorry that they dared raise a hand to a great rabbi in Israel and reprove him with harsh words, for daring to say things written and interpreted in our holy Torah."
In a recording published on Kann 11 Rabbi Stern is heard opposing same-gender couples raising children as if they were a normative family. "No one talks about the fact that children are raised here into a very strange and unnatural life, without a father or a mother, and it is very possible that the children are ultimately miserable," said Rabbi Stern.
Meretz Party Chairman MK Tamar Zandberg was furious: "The gay community does not need reinforcement and help from an extreme rabbi, who certainly preached to his students against baseless hatred on Tisha b'Av, and returned to incitement at the end of the fast. He and his ilk can draw much frustration at the way the proud community has swept a whole country behind it, on the way to achieving full equality."
