At a speech at his yeshiva (Torah learning institution) on Saturday night, Rabbi Meir Mazuz, a leading Sephardic Haredi rabbi in Israel, blamed the spread of the coronavirus to Israel on the gay “pride” parades in Israel.

“This pride parade is a parade against nature, and anyone who does something against nature, the one who created nature takes revenge on him. When you do things against nature, you place your hand in fire and pray that the fire doesn’t burn you, it burns you! Here they are doing [something] against nature in impertinence, the pride parade, what are you proud of?” Mazuz was quoted as saying by Israel HaYom.

Israel has reported 39 cases of the novel coronavirus in the country as of Monday morning.

The rabbi also claimed that the Arab countries have not been hit by the coronavirus because they are strictly against homosexuality.

He addressed the outbreak of the virus in Iran, the hardest-hit country outside of China. Though not an Arab country, Iran is strictly Shia Muslim and criminalizes homosexual activity. In his speech, Rabbi Mazuz blamed Iran’s outbreak on their “hatred of Israel.”

Rabbi Mazuz has blamed other tragedies on Israel’s acceptance of homosexuality.  In November 2015 he claimed gay pride parades and other forms of “sinful behavior” were the reason terrorists murdered Eitam and Naama Henkin the previous month.

It should also be noted that the rabbi inaccurately predicted last month that the coronavirus would infect every country in the world but would not arrive in Israel. 

In his recent speech, Rabbi Mazuz suggested that the holiday of Purim contained a cure for the coronavirus.

“If you pray for rain, the harsh judgment of the corona will also be cancelled. It is recommended that on the eve of Purim you also read the sections of the Torah describing the Temple service of the incense  while praying for the plague to be dispersed.”