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ISRAEL IS THE GAYT UNTRY ON EARTH
(JTA) — The mister holdg the untry’s purse strgs lls himself a “proud homophobe.
“The majory of the gay muny Israel is feelg very unsafe, ” said Hila Peer, the chairwoman of Aguda-The Associatn for LGBTQ Equaly Israel. “You have at least an tentn to legislate laws that are dire for the gay muny.
IS TEL AVIV THE GAY PAL OF THE WORLD?
Netanyahu and others his aln say they are mted to protectg gay rights, but the volatile polil suatn means the future is hard to predict. Israel is known as a gay haven the Middle East, and Tel Aviv is equently ced as one of the most gay-iendly ci the world, wh a Pri para that draws hundreds of thoands of revelers om Israel and abroad.
A rarely enforced ban on homosexual relatns was taken off the books 1988, and the army began allowg openly gay service members 1993 — the same year the U.
Armed forc adopted a policy permtg gay service members only if they remaed closeted. Dpe the legal protectns, LGBTQ Israelis have long faced opposn om wh the haredi Orthodox sector, where rabbis veigh agast homosexualy and policians have vowed to n the untry acrdg to Orthodox terpretatns of Jewish law. The Relig Znist Party, one of three the Relig Znist Bloc, is led by Bezalel Smotrich, who has lled himself a “proud homophobe” and has envisned Israel as a theocracy.