Ra’anana city councilman resigns in protest over pride parade

A city councilman in Ra’anana resigned Wednesday in protest a day after his city held a pride parade for the first time ever.

Tuesday’s parade drew over 1,000 people, who gathered in the center of the Tel Aviv suburb.

In his resignation letter, Eliyahu Alush accused Mayor Chaim Broyde of dealing a “severe blow” to ties between secular and religious residents of Ra’anana by agreeing to host the march.

“The very existence of the parade is a continuation of a slippery slope on which the mayor abandons his biggest and most loyal supporters,” Alush was quoted as saying by the Walla news site.

Broyde responded that he was sorry Alush, who heads the United Religious List, chose division over unity and discourse, according to the report.

אלפי צועדים במצעד הגאווה הראשון של רעננה הוכיחו פעם נוספת שעל כל קיצוני שיצא עלינו נוציא פי מאה לרחובות. אין מקום לקיצוניים בישראל 2019. רק סובלנות וגאווה. pic.twitter.com/D0Zn2spjgX

— Idan Roll – עידן רול (@idanroll) June 18, 2019

In 2012, a Pride parade scheduled in Ra’anana was canceled after the city said it could hurt the feelings of a high proportion of the local residents.

Police said seven people were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of planning to disturb the event. Several people held a small rally against the parade outside a local synagogue, the local Mynet news site reported.

The parade in Ra’anana came after Tel Aviv on Friday held its pride parade, which some 250,000 people attended.