Roughly 30,000 people attended the Jerusalem Pride Parade on Thursday evening, with parade planners saying the event was the “most important Pride parade ever.”
The Pride parade this year was teeming with questions and worries about the safety of the event, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir handling the festivities.
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“While the minister may have disagreements with the parade, the police’s role is to ensure the security of the marchers above all else,” said Ben-Gvir, recounting a conversation with the mother of an LGBTQ child who expressed concerns. “My duty is to protect your child so that not a single hair on their head is harmed.”
The day’s events began at 5 PM, with the arrival of US Ambassador Tom Nides, National Unity chief Benny Gantz and Opposition leader Yair Lapid speaking to the gathering. Nides, whose tenure as ambassador is coming to a close, said that “We work with the [LGBTQ] community, we love you and want to support you.”
“This is the spirit of America – to stand with the Israelis and the LGBTQ community and support you in everything you need. This is democracy and the values we share and why we are here. We are with you,” Nides expressed.
Lapid had a little more fire in his words, quipping that “wretched thugs” who protest the parade were actually part of the government. “Outside, like every year, there are the wretched thugs of [the far-right] Lehava the Kach movement, demonstrating against us. The only difference is that this year these people are no longer just a ridiculous bunch of dark extremists – they are part of the government,” Lapid asserted.
The opposition leader also attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet ministers: “Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Avi Maoz are trying to push us all back into the closet. Into the dark closet of their prejudices, into the dark closet of fear and hatred.”
Gantz followed Lapid’s line of attacking the government, and said “we won’t have to march when we won’t need security and undercover police [to keep attendees safe]. We won’t need to march once there are no more racists in the government.”
Hila Peer, who chairs The Aguda – Israel’s LGBTQ Task Force, was also in attendance at Thursday’s parade. She said that today’s march is the “most important one ever.” Peer further elaborated that the people marching today are “here and stronger than ever; [we are] united together against the threats, incitement and hatred for an equal, democratic and tolerant Israel.”
“There’s no Pride without democracy, and this is the answer to homophobia coming from the government. This is our culture and love, and it will defeat any minister who carries out provocations at our expense,” Peer concluded.
As attendees reached the end of the parade route, marchers gathered in Jerusalem’s Independence Park for speeches and performances. Writer and journalist Eran Suissa opened the event with a speech about his own experiences in conversion therapy, and what it meant to him to be back in the city where he faced such rejection, now as an openly gay man.
Also speaking was retired Supreme Court Judge Ayala Procaccia. The former judge said that today’s event must not be separated from the mass efforts to halt the planned judicial overhaul legislation. “The judicial overhaul aims to weaken the court and judicial review. If it succeeds, it’ll harm the fabric of human rights in Israel and especially the rights of the LGBTQ community,” Procaccia said to the crowd.
Procaccia further elaborated, saying that the judicial overhaul “could harm the progress that’ve already been achieved, [and] therefore the community must stand in the front lines of the protest and thwart the [government’s ongoing attempts to pass the legislation]. It’s not enough to thwart the coup, we must unite [in order to take full advantage of the political crisis], and shape it according to the values of equality.”
Linda Dayan, Yael Freidson, Bar Peleg and Nir Hasson contributed to this article.
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