'Gay conversion' therapy, increasingly shunned in the U.S., is thriving in Israel

In December, New Jersey ordered JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), a group that practices "gay conversion" or "reparative" therapy, shut down for violating state consumer fraud laws. Therapists with ties to JONAH have found refuge and clients in Israel, and they're not alone, The Associated Press reports. Many of the people seeking to overcome their homosexual attractions are Orthodox Jewish men who want to marry women and have families, or students at Orthodox seminaries. Israel's Health Ministry warns against therapy aimed at turning gay men straight, but there is no law against it. Several U.S. states have banned such therapy for minors, and leading U.S. medical groups call it ineffective and harmful.

"Since there is such a strong religious presence here, and I think political correctness isn't as prevalent, there's more openness about it, about this kind of therapy here," Dr. Elan Karten, a U.S.-trained psychologist who has treated some 100 people battling same-sex attraction in his eight years in Jerusalem, tells AP. He is one of about 20 or 30 licensed psychologists or social workers, plus 50 non-licensed therapists, who practice conversion therapy in Israel, according to Rabbi Ron Yosef, a critic of the anti-gay therapy. Another critic is Chaim Levin, who used to be a client of JONAH but is now suing them in New Jersey. JONAH is "exporting hatred and junk science to Israel," he tells AP. "People need to know."

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