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Last update - 08:07 06/08/2009
Haaretz survey: 46% of Israelis thinks gays are deviants
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: poll, gays, israel news 

Almost half of the Israeli population believes that homosexuality is a perversion. A Haaretz-Dialog poll, conducted under Prof. Camil Fuchs finds that 46 percent of the people surveyed answered the question "Do you see homosexuality as a perversion?" in the affirmative, while 42 percent answered that it was not a perversion. Twelve percent said they did not know.

The survey also finds that 71 percent of the ultra-Orthodox population believe homosexuality is a perversion. So do 67 percent of the religious (Orthodox), 64 percent of the Arabs, 57 percent of the Russian-speaking immigrants, 44 percent of the observant (traditional) Jews and 24 percent of the secular population.

The survey, which will be published Friday in full in Haaretz, consisted of a representative sample of 498 interviewees.
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Fuchs said that a certain decline in homophobia can be seen as compared to previous surveys. An international survey conducted in 2007 revealed that the positions regarding homosexuality in Israel were less liberal than in other Western countries, but more liberal than in Russia, Ukraine and South Korea. The level of homophobia in Israel is close to the level in Bulgaria, he said.

Fuchs added that the timing of the survey- the week in which a murderous attack was carried out at a gay community center in Tel Aviv - should be taken into consideration. "It's possible that what we have here is a reaction to trauma and also that hate-filled people think this is not the moment to admit it," he said.

The survey shows that secular people are very liberal in their attitude toward homosexuals as compared to other Western states. "In other countries there are also very conservative secular people. In Israel, in contrast, those who define themselves as secular have very liberal positions," Fuchs said.

Yaniv Weizman, head of Tel Aviv's gay youth organization, said "It comes as no surprise to me that almost half the public thinks I'm mentally ill and should be imprisoned, treated or killed. However, I feel we've made some progress. If 26 percent of the religious and 27 percent of the Arabs say we're not perverts, you can say we've achieved something."

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      1.   Only half? They are not just deviants but mentally ill 03:45  |  David 06/08/09
      2.   Public Opinion vs. God`s Opinion 04:05  |  Fight the Darkness 06/08/09
      3.   Right on! 05:24  |  Little Willie John 06/08/09
      4.   Jesus is Lord 05:26  |  Warrick 06/08/09
      5.   Note that deviance and perversion are not the same thing. 06:10  |  Colin Wright 06/08/09
      6.   Gay is NOT the norm... 06:10  |  Joey 06/08/09
      7.   gays are in fact deviants from the norm 06:15  |  so what? 06/08/09
      8.   so the majority of society deem it as perversion 06:39  |  Jon 06/08/09
      9.   Why, because their rabbi told them? 06:48  |  Israeli 06/08/09
      10.   #5 WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! 06:59  |  Socialist 06/08/09
      11.   Of Course It`s a Perversion 07:40  |  Yishai Kohen 06/08/09
      12.   Half of the public think gays are edvieants 07:43  |  DT 06/08/09
      13.   David the # 1 HOMOPHOBE 07:46  |  SJ 06/08/09
      14.   2 murdered lets incite more hatred 07:53  |  SJ 06/08/09
      15.   Are people kidding me? 08:04  |  Ryan 06/08/09
      16.   Amazing... 08:49  |  Dave 06/08/09
      17.   Acutally, since the invention of brain tomography... 08:57  |  Uri 06/08/09
      18.   46% of Israelis are uneducated bigots 09:00  |  BC 06/08/09
      19.   I don`t hate gays, but they ARE mentally ill. 09:03  |  Steve 06/08/09
      20.   So what? For me all of you 46% .... 09:21  |  Wmr 06/08/09
      21.   biased surveyer 09:22  |  izzy d 06/08/09
      22.   So Israel is not much different than Iran. 09:37  |  Kilminster 06/08/09
      23.   13 Steve sorry to hear you feel like that 09:49  |  sj 06/08/09
      24.   meaning of words.... 09:51  |  Brandon 06/08/09
      25.   Strange. Must be jewish tolerance and love. 09:52  |  Andreas 06/08/09
      26.   Hey haaretz, isn`t funny? Your avarage readers seem to be the 09:56  |  Andreas 06/08/09
      27.   Surprisingly low Orthodox % 10:04  |  DG 06/08/09
      28.   sad that we still are a primitive, macho nation 10:22  |  rose 06/08/09
      29.   In your face homosexuality - 2 10:48  |  Reuven 06/08/09
      30.   Hatred of Love 10:49  |  BoredatMidnight 06/08/09
      31.   #10: Apples and Oranges 11:00  |  BoredatMidnight 06/08/09
      32.   Israel should be embarrassed about its level of homophobe bigotry 11:00  |  Michael 06/08/09
      33.   ??? 11:10  |  leven5 06/08/09
      34.   Sexuality as a choice? 11:12  |  Logic 06/08/09
      35.   #28: Let me Follow Through on that Thought 11:14  |  BoredatMidnight 06/08/09
      36.   Well, yes, it is a deviation from the norm, certainly not a "sin" 11:29  |  Esther 06/08/09
      37.   MICHAEL UK There are very open Gay establishments in TA 11:30  |  PETER SM 06/08/09
      38.   Yishai #11... what can be expected from our arch-bigot...? 11:49  |  Esther 06/08/09
      39.   KILMINSTER remind us of the last public hanging of gays in Israel 11:50  |  PETER SM 06/08/09
      40.   Gays are evil? 11:52  |  dan 06/08/09
      41.   Reuven the Brilliant Legal Mind from Petach Tikva 12:01  |  Mark T 06/08/09
      42.   My experiences with gay males... 12:07  |  Tom 06/08/09
      43.   #33 Logic 12:12  |  Uri 06/08/09
      44.   response to #39 12:18  |  Phepps 06/08/09
      45.   A scary statistic - which is no doubt NOT TRUE 12:21  |  Welshman 06/08/09
      46.   PETER S&M 37. Do you regard gays as deviants? 12:40  |  Michael 06/08/09
      47.   tribe vs modern society 12:41  |  quentin 06/08/09
      48.   @ 42 Tom 12:55  |  Sascha 06/08/09
      49.   Esther #38: You Can`t Tell Right From Wrong... 13:13  |  Yishai Kohen 06/08/09
      50.   MICHAEL. Sorry mate you can`t point score there either 13:28  |  PETER SM 06/08/09
      51.   Nothing to do with tribes. It`s monotheistic religion 13:37  |  Kilminster 06/08/09
      52.   "The survey shows that secular people are very liberal ... 13:40  |  NB 06/08/09
      53.   PETER SM 50. You`re all liberal! You`ll be hugging Pals next! 13:48  |  Michael 06/08/09
      54.   DEVIANT? What was the Hebrew word used? 13:49  |  Fortuna Benmayor 06/08/09
      55.   #42 - you don`t speak for "our" straight society 13:49  |  BC 06/08/09
      56.   Surpising? its self inflicted as well 13:56  |  niva 06/08/09
      57.   Re: #49. The Shoe Seems to Fit 14:11  |  Mr. Dictionary 06/08/09
      58.   Haaretz survey: 46% of Israelis thinks gays are deviants 14:23  |  mila 06/08/09
      59.   MICHAEL Token number my foot. 14:38  |  PETER SM 06/08/09
      60.   Mr. Dictionary Needs A Dictionary 14:41  |  Yishai Kohen 06/08/09
      61.   PETER SM 59. So what are we waiting for?! 14:56  |  Michael 06/08/09
      62.   Hatred 15:39  |  James 06/08/09
      63.   Yesterday`s headline 15:48  |  Arie 06/08/09
      64.   gays? deviants 15:49  |  Smith 06/08/09
      65.   Irrelavent, Muslims also kill Gays 16:05  |  lily 06/08/09
      66.   You`ll find that an equal number 16:07  |  sh 06/08/09
      67.   It`s a disorder. We do not persecute people with a disorder. 16:13  |  MIKE 06/08/09
      68.   Israeli Social Mores Locked in the 1970`s 16:14  |  John Q. Public 06/08/09
      69.   Congratulations, Israel.... 16:26  |  Andy 06/08/09
      70.   to 5 Collin Wrigth. Good analysis 16:30  |  JP 06/08/09
      71.   Let G-d take care them, doesn´t need to kill and be wrong 16:32  |  JP 06/08/09
      72.   #42, Tom... 16:51  |  Silvienne 06/08/09
      73.   gays in Israel 17:26  |  james bedford 06/08/09
      74.   responce to: John Q Public #68 17:37  |  smith 06/08/09
      75.   There Was This Guy In The News The Other Day... 17:48  |  Yosemite 06/08/09
      76.   deviance 18:12  |  joe deviant 06/08/09
      77.   22kilminster "So Israel is not much different than Iran?" Huh???? 18:14  |  common sense 06/08/09
      78.   # 1 18:24  |  simon 06/08/09
      79.   Christ must have had a back up plan in John 8. 18:37  |  Simon 06/08/09
      80.   Gays = Deviants 18:39  |  cwarn 06/08/09
      81.   radical gay jews 20:24  |  alan 06/08/09
      82.   to kilminster#51 20:36  |  herman 06/08/09
      83.   PROPOGANDA TO DIVIDE ISRAELIS and DISCREDIT ISRAEL 20:36  |  FARREL 06/08/09
      84.   Homosexuality is treatable 21:56  |  Lisa 06/08/09
      85.   Kilminster 22:07  |  alan 06/08/09
      86.   Murder is murder 22:15  |  Avi 06/08/09
      87.   Re# 1 Many gays are surely brilliant people 22:26  |  Ines 06/08/09
      88.   Re # 2 I also Disagree with You 22:32  |  Ines 06/08/09
      89.   Re # 3 I can believe that still there is so many 22:35  |  Ines 06/08/09
      90.   Re# 5 22:42  |  Ines 06/08/09
      91.   Yishai #60,...moreover, it is repellent ... 23:02  |  Esther 06/08/09
      92.   gay culture is hypocritical & promotes homophobia 23:10  |  zionist forever 06/08/09
      93.   Lisa 23:35  |  alan 06/08/09
      94.   shocking 00:05  |  zollikon 07/08/09
      95.   88 Ines 01:15  |  alan 07/08/09
      96.   Ines, #88 02:12  |  Little Willie John 07/08/09
      97.   Flexibility In Intrepreting Scripture 02:45  |  PCH 07/08/09
      98.   Israeli and Arab surveys 04:51  |  Mark 07/08/09
      99.   Huge Divide in Israeli Society 05:20  |  Alex 07/08/09
      100.   @Little Willie John 10:10  |  Kilminster 07/08/09
      101.   We will destroy ourselves with our hatred... 17:53  |  Sara 07/08/09
      102.   #100, Kilminster 00:58  |  Little Willie John 08/08/09
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