Livneh was neither ultra-Orthodox nor Orthodox, but rather a Jewish nationalist, yet his main argument was that homosexuality is foreign to Judaism, constitutes a foreign influence by degenerate Western culture and should be combatted. In their own words: What some Israeli politicians really think about Arabs and LGBTs We are to blame for the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade stabbing Why I, as an Orthodox rabbi, support legalizing same-sex marriage He wrote in response to calls at the time to cancel the sodomy law (which was ultimately cancelled only in 1988, thanks to Shulamit Aloni). On July 7, 1971, Haaretz published an opinion piece (in Hebrew) entitled “Israel or Sodom: Public condoning of sexual perversions – a grave matter.” The author, Eliezer Livneh (Liebenstein), was a former Knesset member from Mapai (precursor of today’s Labor Party) who become one of the main ideologists of the Greater Land of Israel movement.
