Israel sets record for number of openly gay MKs

The record was made possible after Blue and White scored a political victory overnight Monday night when it succeeded in passing the Expanded Norwegian Law into law in the Knesset plenum.

REVELERS DIP in the Mediterranean Sea as they take part in a Gay Pride parade in Tel Aviv last year (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
REVELERS DIP in the Mediterranean Sea as they take part in a Gay Pride parade in Tel Aviv last year
(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
On Friday, Israel set the record for highest amount of openly gay MKs in the 23rd Knesset, with six members of the LGBT community, while the previous record was five.
Public Security Minister Amir Ohana set the record for being the first gay minister in Israel in 2019 after he was appointed as the justice minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 
Other than Ohana, the other 5 gay MKs are Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz, Labor MK Itzik Shmuli, Blue and White MKs Idan Roll and former Ra’anana mayor Eitan Ginzburg, and Yesh Atid-Telem MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu.
The record was made possible after Blue and White scored a political victory overnight Monday night when it succeeded in passing the Expanded Norwegian Law in the Knesset plenum by a vote of 67 to 23.
The law would enable five ministers or deputy ministers in Blue and White and two in other coalition parties to quit the Knesset and be replaced by the next candidates on their parties' lists.
As such, on Wednesday, four Blue and White ministers filed their resignation to Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, with their resignation and the entry of four new MKs coming into effect on Friday.
Thus, Lahav Hertzanu managed to secure a spot in the 23rd Knesset, becoming the sixth openly gay MK and setting the new record.