Dozens of people protested in front of the Tel Aviv District police station on Wednesday after a series of violent attacks targeted LGBTQ+ Israelis in recent weeks.
Protesters with Pride and Israeli flags chanted "officer, officer who are you protecting?" and "[National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir wake up, our blood is not cheap" and carried signs reading "first they came and acted violently against the LGBTQ+ community and I did not speak up."
Pro-Palestinian slogans get drowned out
A small group showed up at the protest and began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, but were quickly drowned out by the rest of the protesters.
According to the Agudah - The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, in March there was a four-fold increase in LGBTQ-phobic incidents compared to last March.
The protest comes just two days after a gay couple was attacked in their apartment in Tel Aviv on Monday morning, when a neighbor broke the shutter of their window and threatened to kill them.
Oded, one of the targets of the attack, said that their neighbor began shouting at him and his partner shortly before they left for work, shouting "Go back to Germany, I don't tolerate gays, I don't like gays."
Ahead of the protest on Wednesday, Oded stressed that "The Israel Police must understand that the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters in Israel are not a persecuted minority, but the majority - we are everywhere, in every village, city and locality in Israel and we deserve protection from extremists who seek to harm us. It's the police's job to protect us and they failed in their job."
On Tuesday night, the assailant was released with a restraining order, but returned to his home next to the couple he attacked on Monday. Police were called to the scene and detained him again, but released him again after an hour. The couple moved to a different apartment in the past few days out of concern for their lives.
The attack came on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Homosexuals were one of the groups targeted by the Nazi regime. Between 5,000 to 15,000 men were sent to concentration camps as "homosexual offenders" and tens of thousands of others were imprisoned elsewhere.
The attack on Monday came shortly after police closed an investigation into the throwing of stones at an apartment where an LGBTQ+ Pride flag was hanging in Tel Aviv during a right-wing protest earlier this month, despite the suspects being photographed in multiple videos.
Shoval Hachmon, who lives in the apartment that was stoned, stated at the protest on Wednesday that "No one should live in fear in their country, on their streets and even more so in their homes. The LGBTQ+ community has always been and will always be a part of this country, no matter how much they try to oppress us, humiliate us, take away our rights and silence us - we will not be silent."
"As a teenager, I grew up in Hadera, my childhood memories as a gay teenager are not positive to say the least, but years of bullying - only made me stand up straighter and prouder and a lot of that was thanks to the knowledge that behind me there is an entire strong, free, colorful and proud community," said Hachmon. "Unfortunately, any disregard on the part of the institutions that are supposed to protect us in this country - gives unofficial permission to LGBTQ-phobia, to attack and persecute the members of the LGBTQ+ community in the country."
Agudah sends letter to the police chief
Additionally on Monday, the Agudah sent a letter to Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai, asking him for an urgent meeting and demanding harsher penalties for LGBTQ+ hate crimes.
Hila Peer, the chairperson of the Agudah, stated "The police abandoned the personal safety of the LGBTQ+ community and adopted the LGBTQ-phobic commander's spirit that comes from the government."
"In recent months, violence against LGBTQ+ people has been rampant while the police are asleep on guard. We will not allow this to continue to happen. We are here tonight to demand full security for every community member, the members of the LGBTQ+ community who suffer spitting, swearing and violence just because of who they are and cannot be safe in the public space. It is the responsibility of the police to protect us and prevent the next murder."
3,309 cases of LGBTQ-phobia were reported in 2022, an 11% increase compared to the previous year. There was a seven-fold increase in the number of LGBTQ-phobic incidents involving public figures and the media, a five-fold increase in the number of LGBTQ-phobic incidents in public places and an eight-fold increase in cases of discrimination at businesses.