Bezalel Smotrich
Bezalel SmotrichOlivier Fitoussi/Flash90

Religious Zionism Chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday responded to comments on his statement that the "pride parade" had led to a surge in coronavirus infections.

In an interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Smotrich emphasized that his Knesset speech did not blame the surge entirely on the pride parade.

"We are allowed to speak about the LGBT community and the pride parade, and to note that this event, together with many other events, brought us to where we are now," Smotrich said.

Questioning whether the fact that Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) is part of the LGBT community was what led to the commotion, Smotrich added: "When was the last time that the Health Ministry bothered to run and put out notices about politicians' statements on coronavirus?"

On Wednesday, Smotrich said: "There was an enormous infection party which started this entire wave. No one has the courage to say it, but the pride parade, when everyone went wild in Tel Aviv, was the starter for this outbreak."

In that Knesset speech, Smotrich noted that other factors caused the outbreak as well, such as the Balfour protests and the flights to Turkey, which is considered a "red" country.

In his response to the reactions, he said: "There was a list of events which caused the current outbreak and the lockdown which will apparently be enacted for all of us during the Tishrei holidays, and which could have been prevented," he said. "The large protests in Balfour, the mass infection party in Tel Aviv, the airport, mass exodus to red Turkey, but look, there's no reason to talk logically, because I mentioned the pride parade."