Rafi Peretz

Early life

Peretz was born in Jerusalem, to parents of Moroccan-Jewish descent. He grew up in the Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood of Western Jerusalem.

He studied at Mercaz HaRav, and then Yeshivat HaKotel; he received semikhah (ordination) from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

Military career

Prior to being promoted to the rank of brigadier general, Peretz was the head of the Otzem Pre-Military Academy in Yated, which was relocated from Bnei Atzmon, where he established it in 1993, and a major (reserves) in the Israeli Air Force, where he served as a helicopter pilot. He succeeded Rabbi Avichai Rontzki as Chief Military Rabbi in mid-2010, serving in the post until 2016.

In November 2014, at a tense time in Jerusalem, Peretz caused a public controversy by announcing that the Temple Mount has no religious significance to the Muslim religion. He was quoted as saying, "Ninety percent of the Arabs don't know a thing about the Koran. I tell you with full authority. We know better than many of them." The IDF quickly distanced itself from the rabbi's statements, and stated: "The rabbi is sorry if his remarks offended the Arab population." Ynet characterized Peretz's comments as "explosive".

Political career

Peretz was elected to lead the Jewish Home party on 4 February 2019. The party joined the Union of the Right-Wing Parties alliance for the April 2019 Knesset elections, with Peretz as the alliance's lead candidate. He was elected to the Knesset as the coalition won five seats.

In 2019, Peretz was appointed the interim Minister of Education.

In May 2019, Peretz compared Jewish intermarriage in the United States to a "second Holocaust". Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that Peretz' remark "trivializes the Shoah [Holocaust]".

Peretz attracted further criticism from within the government and Israeli society in July 2019, when he endorsed gay conversion therapy, and claimed to have personally performed such therapy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Peretz's comments as "unacceptable". On July 18, 2019, Peretz said, after protests, that he rejected gay conversion therapy.

In an interview published on 10 January 2020, Peretz told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, "In the religious public that lives according to the Torah, a normal family is a man and a woman. [We] don’t need to be ashamed that we live in this natural way", The Times of Israel reported, adding that his comments drew criticism of Israeli LGBT activists and politicians by "suggesting gay marriage was not natural".

In May 2020, as Yamina switched to the opposition before the formation of the Netanyahu–Gantz unity government, Peretz resigned from Yamina and joined the Netanyahu government as the "Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage".

In January 2021, he announced his retirement from politics.

Personal life

Peretz is married, and has 12 children. He lived in the Gush Katif settlement of Bnei Atzmon prior to the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005, and now lives in Naveh, a village established in 2008 by former residents of Gush Katif. On 1 August 2020, Peretz tested positive for COVID-19.

References

References

1. (17 May 2020). "After Year of Deadlock and Days of Delays, Knesset Swears in New Israeli Government". [[Haaretz]].
2. (14 May 2020). "Yamina's Peretz splits party to join government, but posting still up in the air". [[The Times of Israel]].
3. Toker, Benny. (4 February 2019). "Rabbi Rafi Peretz will bring back voters". 0 [[Israel National News]].
4. Israel National News. (29 December 2009). link
5. Gedalyahu, Tzvi Ben. (26 January 2010). "Peretz IDF's New Chief Rabbi". Israel National News.
6. Levinson, Chaim. (28 November 2014). "Chief IDF Rabbi: Temple Mount Not for Muslims". [[Haaretz]].
7. (28 November 2014). "IDF chief rabbi: 90% of Muslims don't know Quran contents". [[The Times of Israel]].
8. (28 November 2014). "Chief IDF Rabbi: Muslims pray with face to Mecca, back to Jerusalem". [[Ynet]].
9. Staff writer. (4 February 2019). "Beit Yehudi leader slams Shaked, Bennet: You don't abandon a home". [[The Jerusalem Post]].
10. (13 July 2019). "Israel minister defends 'gay conversion therapy'". [[BBC News]].
11. Darrah, Nicole. (10 July 2019). "Israeli education minister likens marriage between US Jews and non-Jews to 'second Holocaust'". [[Fox News]].
12. "Israel's education minister: Intermarriage among US Jews 'like second Holocaust'". [[The Times of Israel]].
13. (10 July 2019). "Israeli minister says US Jews marrying non-Jews is "like a second Holocaust"". Vox.
14. Dalton, Jane. (14 July 2019). "Gay conversion therapy works, and I've given it, says Israeli education minister". [[The Independent]].
15. (18 July 2019). "Israels Bildungsminister rudert zurück, "Ich lehne diese Praxis entschieden ab."". [[Bild]].
16. (10 January 2020). "Education minister slammed for suggesting gay marriage is unnatural". The Times of Israel.
17. Ben Porat, Ido. (15 May 2020). "Rabbi Rafi Peretz signs coalition agreement with the Likud". [[Arutz Sheva]].
18. (5 January 2021). "Rafi Peretz to quit politics as Jewish Home seeks to merge with Yamina once more". The Times of Israel.
19. (2 August 2020). "The Latest: Israeli minister for Jerusalem tests positive".