Elements of the Netanyahu-led coalition have been blatantly hostile and the repeal of some homosexuals is on the agenda.
The prospect of the far right joining the government after Israel’s elections has left the country’s LGBTQ network fearing for the future.
Elements of the incoming coalition led by Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu have made no secret of being hostile to Palestinians and LGBTQ people.
Avi Maoz, the leader of the devout nationalist and extremist Noam party who helped win Netanyahu’s bloc, said homosexuals are a “threat to the family” and that the most important thing women can do is marry and raise children.
Maoz is expected to lead a new “Jewish national identity” authority with powers over certain school activities, adding minority rights and gender equality.
For many left-wing voters, the arrival of a homophobic and ultra-religious government came as no surprise after four years of political chaos and successive elections sparked by Netanyahu’s corruption trial. Despite the coalition’s initial negotiating difficulties, the new government is expected to last. a full term.
Matan Rudner voted for the left-wing Meretz party, which failed to cross the electoral threshold in last month’s election and is excluded from the Knesset, diluting an already weak left-wing representation.
The 24-year-old tour guide, who identifies as gay, immigrated to Israel in 2017 from the United States and lives in Jerusalem. “I feel that I have committed my life and I will dedicate it to God, to the other Jews. and to this state,” he said. But for many years, Israel has been moving in this direction. . . I hope something changes, although I don’t know if it will.
With same-sex adoption and surrogacy legislation repealed in the new government’s legislative agenda, Rudner worries about whether he will be able to start a family. “The long term I see in this country is much bleaker than before the election,” he said. said. ” However, I can’t believe my long career without Israel. I feel like there is still no choice to stay here and fight for my rights. “
Israel’s cultural and economic capital, Tel Aviv, is also threatened. Noam called for the cancellation of Gay Pride events.
Hilal Habashi, a transgender Palestinian citizen of Israel who lives in Jaffa, an Arab-majority city south of Tel Aviv who works in technology, said she found the political landscape confusing.
“It looks like they’re going to start small, removing elements of the physical care package, like subsidized drugs. We may not have hormones or access to surgical preparation. . . If you have to pay personal costs for this it will have effects on everyone, no matter how much money you make.
Habashi is already making an effort not to look feminine when she leaves her community home, which she calls conservative. “There is no longer much sympathy for trans people. If we’re going to have a stand for this kind of public discourse, transphobia and homophobia: it’s going to be much harder for me to live my life, and that’s scary,” he said.
“I’m afraid of being persecuted, I’m a trans woman. . . The Palestinian network is also mistreated through the government, officials and police. What we are facing is traumatic.
Some members of the LGBTQ network are thinking about leaving. “I felt betrayed by my people. It’s a big disappointment and it’s still very hard to accept,” said Shay Lerner, 34, a DJ planning to move to Germany. I’m disappointed in my country because I wasn’t raised that way: I grew up to take on the duty of my movements and to look at others and see them as human beings. “
Israel sees itself as a democracy, Lerner said, but finds it hard to reconcile it with her reporting as a queer user and left-wing human rights activist. “You can’t be a just democracy for one people, only the Jewish people. . . It’s a genuine fear.
“They will start denying us and we will feel the loss of the rights we have fought for so long. “
Ultimately, there is a lack of political commitment in the queer community, he added, anything you want to change. “No one wants to worry about politics here because it’s considered dirty. . . I hope it’s a wonderful lesson. “