"No service for gays," "no entry for blacks," "no Arabs" read store signs in a new video warning of a law set to approve discrimination under the new government published by the SodaStream company on Facebook on Thursday.
"We at SodaStream stand in shock at the amendment to the law prohibiting discrimination, in a way that gives a seal of approval to the dark idea of discrimination between people because of their gender, religion, race or sexual orientation. This is not a political question of right or left, but a question of values. A question of humanity," wrote SodaStream in the Facebook post accompanying the video.
The video ended with the words "So we don't say we didn't know." SodaStream has been noted for its efforts to provide employment opportunities for Arab and Palestinian employees. Last year, SodaStream CEO Eyal Shohat told Calcalist "for us, coexistence is a real agenda."
The video was published as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was voted on and sworn in.
Netanyahu agrees on paper to allow discrimination
Netanyahu has signed two agreements with the Religious Zionist Party and the United Torah Judaism party promising to allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, women and other groups if there is a "religious motive."
Religious Zionist MKs Simcha Rothman and Orit Struck have said in recent days that they intend to promote an amendment to the discrimination law in Israel which would allow doctors to refuse to provide treatment to LGBTQ+ people and single women and to allow hotel owners to refuse to give a room to LGBTQ+ people.
Netanyahu promises not to harm LGBTQ+ community
Despite signing his name on the document promising to allow discrimination and providing anti-LGBTQ+ Noam Party leader Avi Maoz with full power over all external programming in the education system, Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed in recent weeks that he will not allow the LGBTQ+ community or any other group in Israel to be harmed.
Netanyahu has made and broken similar promises in the past. In 2018, he publicly promised to vote yes on an amendment to the surrogacy law which would allow homosexual couples to have children through surrogacy in Israel. After Haredi MKs threatened to leave the coalition if he did so, he went back on his promise.