Sharon Afek’s promotion comes in the same week the Knesset denied surrogacy rights to same-sex couples The Israel Defense Forces has promoted its top lawyer, Sharon Afek, to major general last Thursday, making him the country’s first openly gay person to hold that rank. ‘The rank promotion expresses the great responsibility of the military advocate […]
Military Advocate General (Brig.-Gen.) Sharon Afek, a top member of the high command of the Israeli army, has just been promoted to Major General, becoming the first openly gay officer to hold the second-highest rank in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Afek came out last year in an interview with Israel Bar Association’s official magazine: […]
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has removed Hoshen from its list of organizations that are allowed to lecture its soldiers–the only LGBT organization with which it works. Hoshen’s Executive Director, Tamar Yahel, comments: “This is not a random decision, but rather a tactical choice made out of fear of criticism directed at the IDF because […]
A Wider Bridge is concerned about an apparent change in Israel Defense Force (IDF) policy which restricts access to training related to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. We echo our partner organization Hoshen’s call to the IDF to reconsider this policy. The IDF has long been a leader in LGBTQ inclusion. For the […]
Itamar, 21, is a former yeshiva student and a current IDF soldier. In a sharp and moving column for organization Havruta, he shared the difficulties of his life outside the closet as a religious gay man facing rejections and having a hard time finding a relationship. I have something to tell you: Don’t come out […]
Ofer Erez, the first transgender officer in the IDF and one of the first in the world, will be released from the army at the end of the month and will take on his new position – the Executive Director of the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance: “We must allow a space where […]
Hen Mazzig, an openly gay former Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) commander was a panelist at a free speech event in Toronto organized by LGBTory, the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research and Hasbara Fellowships He made it through five years in the Israeli army coordinating the construction of roads, hospitals and schools in the West Bank […]
CNN brings the story of Micha Yehudi, a transgender religious man who serves in the Israeli amy and marched on Thursday at the Jerusalem Pride parade Two years ago, Micha Yehudi hit rock bottom. The 25-year-old Israeli soldier was working 18-hour days and couldn’t sleep at night. Instead he watched videos of women going through […]
A group of LGBTQ military reservists have published a letter calling on the Israeli government to fire chief rabbi of the city of Safed, following his extreme homophobic remarks. Or Vaxman Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Safed, has referred to the LGBTQ community as “terrorists” and to the community’s struggle as “LGBT terror attacks” […]
The Israel Defense Forces have knowingly included transgender soldiers since 1998. In 2014, the Israeli military said it had at least five transgender members and would support future such conscripts. As of last year, it was among 19 countries, including the United States, that allowed transgender people to serve in the military. Waving the Transgender Pride flag at Tel Aviv […]