Three gay Israeli Defense Forces soldiers, in the Big Apple to celebrate Pride week, slammed the group Queers for Palestine for its “fake understanding of human rights.”
The three soldiers, who want to meet “Jewish LGBTQ people who’ve been alienated due to the war,” sat down with the Post to reveal how they’ve navigated an increasingly hostile environment in their community.
Shay Abergil, 34, a paratrooper reservist, says gay and lesbian Israelis now have a “complicated relationship” with the LGBTQ community outside Israel.
“We always hear New York Pride being such a great and fun event, but then you have these protests and activists that make the event less fun, it’s even dangerous to wear a Star of David or speak Hebrew out loud,” Abergil added.
Shay Abergil’s grandmother told him not to wear his yarmulke in NYC. Courtesy of Shay Abergil
Abergil, who said being openly gay in the IDF is a “non-issue,” admitted that when he told his grandma he was visiting New York, she begged him to keep his Judaism in the closet.
“My grandmother, who grew up in the Bronx, said, ‘Promise me you won’t wear your yarmulke around the city — it’s too dangerous,’ ” he recalled.
He added that Palestinian gays experience brutal persecution at home.
Amit Benjamin ran civilian evacuation efforts on Oct. 7. Courtesy of Amit Bejnamin
“We want gay people in Gaza and the West Bank to get all the same rights that Westerners get,” he said.
“All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes,” says Amit Benjamin, 36, a first sergeant major in the IDF. “Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians. … queers can not exist in Gaza.”
Benjamin led IDF civilian evacuation efforts in the city of Netivot on Oct. 7. He and his husband had found out they were going to be parents, via a surrogate, just two days earlier.
“Everyone’s heard of Queers for Palestine but I’ve never seen a queer in Palestine,” says Nataniel Haziz. Courtesy of Nataniel Haziz
Amit Benjamin is the father of a two-month-old baby. Courtesy of Amit Bejnamin
In 2016, Hamas killed one of their own leaders, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, after suspicion arose that he was gay, according to Haaretz.
Gay Palestinians go to Tel Aviv in Israel to express their sexuality openly, said Benjamin.
“There’s nothing happening in Ramallah, everything is happening in Israel,” he said.
“Everyone knows ‘Queers for Palestine,’ but I don’t even know one queer in Palestine,” says former IDF sergeant Nataniel Haziz.
A Pride celebration at the Israeli consulate in New York. Consul General of Israel in New York
The Hamas attack, which left 1,200 Israelis dead, gives Pride a special significance this year, Benjamin says.
“To go through the seventh of October… and stay alive… that’s the time to celebrate.”
Benjamin’s daughter Aria is two months old.
“That is my victory.”
