Rabbi Yisrael Rosen
Rabbi Yisrael RosenEliran Aharon

A member of the Presidium of the Jewish Home party, Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, announced that he was resigning from the party because it employs a same-sex-attraction (SSA) spokeswoman.

About a month ago, Yediot Ahronot reported that Galit Peretz, media advisor to Minister Bennett, was raising her two children together with her female partner Adi.

Rabbi Rosen, president of the Tzomet public research institute for merging Judaism with modern life and member of the party presidium, sent a letter to the heads of Jewish Home explaining that he had decided to resign from the party because an SSA spokeswoman could not represent a religious party.

"I expressed a critical position on turning Jewish Home's back on issues of religion and state and abandoning this arena solely to the haredim," wrote Rabbi Rosen.

"It's not surprising that they leave an SSA as spokesperson. I do not have anything against her or against them, but I think that treating them as a community is unacceptably defiant and the manifestation of pride is incompatible with a party that pretends to represent religious Zionism."

Jewish Home Chairman Education Minister Naftali Bennett responded announcement of Rabbi Rosen's resignation on Twitter: "Anyone who thinks that I must discriminate against a person because of his gender, inclination, or the color of his skin will meet from me with a complete refusal."