Gilad Kariv, the head of the Israeli Reform movement – and a candidate for a slot on the Labor Party list – warned Thursday against the influence of the Jewish Home Party. Behind its “smiling visage,” said Kariv, lurked the agenda of a theocratic, right-wing, group of fanatics.

At issue is a video (in Hebrew) in which Jewish Home MKs speak out against homosexual unions, something Kariv supports. “It took awhile to and some patience to unveil the true face of the Jewish Home,” Kativ said. “But behind the ‘cute’ and ‘modern’ surface that the party is trying to foster are the rigid views of a dark, primitive, parochial Judaism,” as opposed to the progressive Judaism Kariv claims to represent.

“It’s time that the public realizes that the ‘young’ and ‘cool’ image of this party is designed to blur its political agenda, which is radically right and ultra-Orthodox. The video against gay marriage is the best proof that it is radical rabbis, who refuse to acknowledge progressivism, who are running the party. These people seek to harm the human rights of Israelis, who seek equality for gay families.:

Kariv, a big proponent of homosexual marriage, is the “recommended candidate” of the Labor Party’s “gay lobby.” In recent months, Kariv, who is also a lawyer, persuaded the High Court to require the government to fund Jerusalem’s “Open House,” which provides services for homosexuals. As a reform rabbi, Kariv has “married” numerous gay couples, using a form of Jewish marriage ritual.