Gay Agenda Takes Spotlight In Israel

by Ryan Jones

Israel's gay community is pressing ahead with transforming the Jewish state into a bastion of homosexual rights and depraved pleasures.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 18:22

In its quest to resemble the nations of the world, Israel is rushing headlong to join an increasingly humanistic global community in tossing aside this, along with most every other, divine prohibition.

And it is going far beyond sanctioning gay "pride" parades and recognizing homosexual marriages, both of which are already old news in Israel. The gay community is now poised to transform Israel into one of the world's premier homosexual vacation spots, and make its mark on Israeli politics as well.

In remarks to Israel Today, a spokesman for Israel's Ministry of Tourism vehemently denied any official participation in a new gay tourism campaign featured prominently last week in Israel's largest daily newspaper, but stressed that if requested, the gay community would receive the same assistance in attracting visitors as any other sector of society.

"We treat [the gay community] like we treat any other group that comes to us and asks for help ... we helped them as much as we can," said spokesman Amatzia Bar-Moshe. "We won't say anything about [gay tourists] coming, just like we wont' say anything against Christian tourists."

Its role this time around may be more limited, but the Ministry of Tourism did participate far more heavily in a focused effort in 2005 to attract homosexual tourism from Germany and Holland.

Whether as a result of that earlier campaign or not, Tel Aviv is today regarded in many circles as the "gay capital" of the Middle East, and nearly on par with gay destinations such as San Francisco, Amsterdam and Berlin.

On the political front, Israel's gay community is looking to solidify through legislation the perception of the Jewish state as a bastion homosexual rights and depraved pleasures.

Tel Aviv magazine reported last Thursday that a new political party called Magi, a Hebrew acronym for "Gay Party in Israel," will contend for Knesset representation in the country's next parliamentary election.

"The party is the outcome of the ongoing incitement against homosexuals and other sexual minorities in Israel," asserted Magi Secretary-General-elect Hagai Eyad.

While Greater Tel Aviv has embraced the homosexual movement, at least three attempts over the past year to hold a gay "pride" parade in Jerusalem have been met by widespread and sometimes violent protests by the city's religious Jewish and Muslim residents. Christian organizations based in the Israeli capital have also urged the government, via more peaceful means, to forbid such an abomination.

A group of leading Israeli lawmakers have heeded the call, and are trying to push through legislation that would ban parades and mass public events of a highly offensive nature from the streets of Jerusalem.

In a preliminary vote last week, the governmental Ministers Committee for Legislation approved a bill that would give Jerusalem's city council the final say on whether or not to allow happenings such as the gay parade. At present, Israel's High Court has ruled that Jerusalem must accommodate the lewd procession, though the police have yet to formulate a way to effectively secure the event.

The so-called "Gay Pride Bill" will be voted on by the Knesset plenum in the near future. If the bill successfully passes three readings, it will become part of Israel's Basic Law.

Interestingly, Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu does not appear to be among those siding with traditional Judeo-Christian values on this issue. Ahead of what he hopes will be his return to the premiership, Netanyahu is said to be actively seeking someone from among the gay community to advise him on homosexual affairs and rights in Israel.

A source in Netanyahu's camp told Israel Today that the story was mere "gossip journalism," but acknowledged that the subject was broached.