Treatment for gays suggested

Jerusalem - Israel's Health Minister, Mr Shlomo Benizri, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, drew fire on World AIDS day yesterday for saying…

Jerusalem - Israel's Health Minister, Mr Shlomo Benizri, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, drew fire on World AIDS day yesterday for saying homosexuals and lesbians needed medical treatment. "These people have a mental problem, they are deviant. Instead of giving them legitimacy, we need to treat them," he told Reuters. Mr Benizri, from the Jewish Shas party, said he favoured psychological treatment. "It is a sickness. They say they are like normal people. Psychologists have to encourage them and help them."