Shas MK Yosef Taieb was greeted with applause when he accidentally attended an LGBT caucus meeting in the Knesset on Tuesday.
The meeting in question was meant to mark the start of LGBTQ Pride Month. However, no members of the coalition attended aside from Likud MKs Eli Dalal and Tsega Melaku, according to Ynet.
ח״כ יוסי טייב מש"ס נכנס היום לשדולת הקהילה הגאה עם תחילת דבריה של אריאלה, יו"ר הבית הגאה בבאר שבע, והתקבל בהתרגשות ובמחיאות כפיים. אח״כ התברר שנכנס בטעות כשחיפש את שדולת ההשכלה הגבוהה.בהמשך, כשאריאלה סיימה לדבר, ח"כ @yossitaieb כבר לא היה באולם.צפו@DaphnaLiel pic.twitter.com/P07r2gvGWF
— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT) June 6, 2023
Taieb's arrival in the room was met with a round of applause from the lawmakers in the caucus. However, it turns out he was only in the room by accident – he had meant to go to a meeting for the higher education caucus, which was set to launch later in the day.
Taieb's arrival was praised by the caucus chairman, Yesh Atid MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu.
"Thank you for being here, Yossi," Lahav Herzanu said. "Would you like to say a few words?"
Taieb politely declined and left, though not before Labor MK Naama Lazimi thanked him for appearing.
Coalition MKs refuse to appear at the LGBT caucus meeting
The incident reflected the lack of coalition representation at the meeting.
Especially evident was the absence of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, currently the highest-ranked member of the LGBTQ community in the government.
Ohana had rejected their invitation, his office claiming he was busy hosting his counterpart from Kazakhstan, who is currently visiting Israel.