Tens of thousands attend toned-down Tel Aviv Pride rally, with spotlight on hostages
Some 25,000 reported at event; partner of slain IDF officer receives medal, says leaders have forgotten to value ‘life over death’; Noa Kirel sings ‘Unicorn’ next to hostage family
Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel
Tens of thousands gathered to mark a toned-down Pride event in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, in lieu of the annual parade, with the event focusing on a call for the return of the hostages being held in Gaza and the contributions to the ongoing war effort of many soldiers and reservists who are part of the LGBTQ community.
With a tone starkly different to the usual raucous party, the gathering was coordinated with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The yellow stripe of LGBTQ rainbow flags flown around the city was enlarged to highlight the plight of the hostages (whose sign in Israel is a yellow ribbon).
Police said 1,000 officers were deployed in the city to maintain order and prevent any disruptions to the event. Several roads were blocked around it.
Hundreds marched for LGBTQ rights from Gan Meir to Charles Clore Park, where the main rally, hosted by TV presenters Assi Azar and Nesli Barda, took place. Some 25,000 were said to attend the main event.
At the rally, popstar Noa Kirel sang her 2023 Eurovision Song Contest entry “Unicorn” alongside the family of hostage Eden Yerushalmi, and hostages’ relatives and LGBTQ activists gave speeches.
Additionally, medals were handed out to members of the LGBTQ community who have made contributions to society since October 7, including Omer Ohana, whose partner Maj. Sagi Golan was killed on October 7 while fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri; Maayan Gross, a transgender woman who fought as a reservist in Gaza; and Eliav Batito, head of the Israeli Spirit advocacy body.
עומר אוחנה, בן זוגו של רס"ן שגיא גולן ז"ל שנפל בקרב על בארי בעצרת בת"א: "מי שמקריב את חייו למען המדינה ראוי שיתייחסו לאהבה שלו כמו לכל אהבה אחרת. זו הזכות שלנו להיות שווים בישראל. השוויון לא יכול להיות רק במוות, הוא צריך להיות גם בחיים".
צילום: גיא יחיאלי pic.twitter.com/JappzsSUqX
— Hadar Gil-Ad | הדר גיל-עד ???? (@HadarGil) June 6, 2024
Ohana told the crowd he felt something “missing” in his life since the loss of Golan.
“I tell Sagi every day, not just once or twice, that I still love him, forever. It hurts, but this is the reality. A reality that doesn’t feel mine. Sagi and I did not live in this reality. We were blinded by love. A bubble, a bubble that I wish was reality,” he said.
Ohana stressed that the hostages must return, and stated the country had “a leadership that has forgotten that it is necessary to choose life over death, good over evil, and we live and continue to live in the consequences of this abandonment.”
He added that the gay community had the power “to achieve equality for everyone” and said it had no right to “give up” on its struggle.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai cast Thursday’s event as an “evening of freedom,” and called the return of hostages “the most important mission facing Israel today.”
Huldai said that although the traditional parade was canceled, there had been no doubt that the event would go ahead in some form due to the importance of its values to the city.
“Tonight we are uniting for hope and sounding a clear voice for the reality of freedom for the abductees and for a free and equal country where LGBT people are equal in life and not only in death,” said Yael Sinai Biblash, chair of the Aguda Association for LGBT Equality in Israel.
Tal Levy, whose brother Or Levy was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival, told the crowd his family was only momentarily happy when they found out Or was alive and a hostage, as his wife had been murdered, leaving behind their two-year-old son Almog.
“Never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that I would have to tell a two-year-old that his mother wasn’t coming back, that his father wants to hug him so badly but can’t, and no one knows if he ever will be able to. I learned the hard way that our leaders are indifferent to our fate,” Levy said, adding that Almog deserved to feel safe in his home, and to live in an “equal and healthy society.”
Nadav Rudaeff, whose father Lior’s body is held by Hamas after being murdered on October 7, told the crowd how he came out to his parents as gay 20 years ago, to which he said his father replied: “I don’t understand it, I grew up in a different culture, but it doesn’t matter, you are my son and I’ll love you forever.”
“From that day I knew that no matter what, my father would always be there. My father and mother’s concern was that I would find the one and start a home and a family,” he said.
Rudaeff urged the crowd not to give up hope for equal rights and the release of the hostages.
Normally drawing tens of thousands of locals and many from around the world, Tel Aviv’s parade has been considered a highlight of the city’s annual calendar for the last 25 years, with massive street festivities feting Israel’s LGBTQ community in a boisterous display of fun and tolerance that marks a point of pride for many Israelis.
The municipality said last month it was scrapping the normally exuberant celebration of LGBTQ life in the famously open city out of deference to the hostages.
It is believed that 120 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 41 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
