A Wider Bridge joins our Israeli LGBTQ partners — including the Agudah, Israel’s LGBTQ Task Force — in expressing deep concern over the decision to honor media personality Ben Shapiro as a torch-lighter in this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut ceremony.
A Wider Bridge stands with the Israeli LGBTQ community. Their voices must be heard, especially during this moment of national reflection, unity, and healing. Elevating someone who has a long and consistent record of denigrating LGBTQ people, opposing our basic rights, and mocking our identities undermines the inclusive values that so many Israelis — and Zionists around the world — are working to build and defend.
At a time when Israeli LGBTQ people are fighting for visibility, equality, and safety — and doing so in the face of terrorism, political instability, and social division — we should be lifting up leaders who unify rather than exclude.
Ben Shapiro’s platform has repeatedly caused harm to LGBTQ communities, including suggesting that acknowledging a transgender person’s identity is akin to affirming a person’s schizophrenic hallucinations. Views like these are not incidental; they are core to his public identity. Honoring Shapiro with one of Israel’s highest symbolic gestures sends a painful message to queer Israelis — and to all who believe in a Jewish state that reflects dignity for all its people.
As a progressive, pro-Israel LGBTQ organization, A Wider Bridge believes that Israel’s future depends on a commitment to pluralism and democracy. That includes a fierce defense of LGBTQ rights — not just in Tel Aviv, but at the very heart of Israeli national identity.
We call on our supporters in the U.S. to stand with Israeli LGBTQ activists. Reach out to your local Israeli Consulate. Raise your voice. Amplify the leadership coming from Israeli civil society. And make it clear: LGBTQ people — in Israel and the diaspora — deserve better.