Democrats party vows to enshrine LGBTQ equality, marriage rights in law amid wave of violence

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Democrats chair Yair Golan (right) and MK Gilad Kariv attend the annual LGBTQ Pride Parade in Tel Aviv, June 12, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Democrats reaffirm pledges to enshrine full equality for LGBTQ Israelis in law, including marriage and parental rights, amid an ongoing wave of violence against members of the community.

“The violence that the LGBTQ community experiences on the streets is encouraged by the government,” party chairman Yair Golan says in a statement, accusing the Netanyahu government of fostering hostility toward LGBTQ Israelis.

Golan pledges to “enshrine full equality of rights in law,” restore values of tolerance and equality to the education system, introduce a national program to combat LGBTQ-phobia and establish a national authority to advance LGBTQ rights, with an annual budget of NIS 100 million.

“I pledge to every member of the LGBTQ community that we, the Democrats, will have your backs in the next government,” he says.

The party’s platform pledges to “advance full equality of rights under the law, including equal rights to parenthood, family and marriage” and civil marriage broadly, which does not currently exist in Israel.

The Democrats are one of three parties running in next week’s election with explicit platforms addressing LGBTQ rights, alongside former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar. All three pledge to enshrine LGBTQ equality in law and advance legal recognition for same-sex couples.

By contrast, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud has no explicit policy on LGBTQ rights, despite Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who is openly gay, holding the third spot on its electoral slate. Netanyahu’s coalition also relies on ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties that have vocally opposed LGBTQ rights and, in many cases, are openly homophobic.