Jerusalem Pride Parade

Jerusalem’s march developed as a means of making LGBTQ identity visible in the city’s public space. The Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, an LGBTQ organization that operates as a community center and safe space, initiated the first parade in 2002. The organization sought to make the event open and welcoming, rooted in Jerusalem society and responsive to a local need; its director said organizers wanted families and friends to attend rather than to present a “provocative” event.[2]

The march has served simultaneously as a celebration, a demonstration of solidarity, and a demand for recognition. A Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research study describes it as more protest-oriented than Tel Aviv’s pride event, which it characterizes as a carnival-like celebration with music, dancing, and colorful trucks. Its account says the Jerusalem parade expresses LGBTQ pride and solidarity while seeking public recognition: “while the parade in Tel Aviv celebrates, its Jerusalem counterpart is still asking for its right to recognition.”[1]

The annual gathering also creates a temporary public space for LGBTQ people in Jerusalem. The study describes it as a several-hour event in a bounded area, occurring once a year, and reports that early marches drew relatively small numbers, including residents of the Jerusalem area marching in solidarity. Participants and organizers have said that public visibility can matter to people who feel isolated or closeted, including young people who may gain reassurance from seeing others like themselves.[1][8]

The parade’s setting has made it the subject of sustained religious, political, and municipal debate. Opponents have objected to the event on grounds that it conflicts with Jerusalem’s religious character, while organizers and supporters have sought permission, protection, and public recognition for the march. Those opposing positions are part of the event’s documented history, rather than neutral descriptions of the parade itself.[1][9]

The first parade took place in 2002, organized by the Jerusalem Open House, and drew opposition from some Orthodox Jews.[1][10] Early organizing included efforts to obtain municipal support for the Open House’s activities and parade events. In 2006, Jerusalem’s Administrative Court ordered the municipality to transfer 375,000 shekels in support funds to the organization and 25,000 shekels for legal expenses. The court found municipal funding criteria discriminatory, including unequal treatment in decisions from 2003 to 2005; the municipality had rejected a 2004 support request despite a recommendation from its legal adviser to award 100,000 shekels.[11]

At the June 2004 parade, bystanders verbally harassed participants and anonymous callers threatened to bomb the event, although the march itself passed without violence. Billboards also displayed a photograph and telephone number of an unnamed gay Jerusalem city council member, accompanied by accusations that he would bring disaster to Jerusalem.[12]

In 2005, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders protested a planned march. On June 26, the Jerusalem District Court ordered the municipality to permit it, and the march proceeded on June 30. An ultra-Orthodox man stabbed three participants and was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder. Reports use different transliterations of his name, including Yishai Shlifel, Yishai Shlisel, and Yishai Schlissel; this article uses Schlissel, the spelling used in the later reporting on the 2015 attack.[9][13]

The stabbing did not end legal and public disputes over subsequent marches. In 2006, religious leaders again protested a planned event, and members of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community threatened participants. The Attorney General rejected a police recommendation to cancel the parade, and the Supreme Court rejected petitions seeking to stop it. Organizers ultimately canceled the planned street march on November 9 and held a peaceful rally in a university stadium the next day, according to the State Department account.[14] Another account describes a World Pride event planned for 2006 and says the parade was ultimately held on November 10, after postponements in the two preceding years—first because of Israel’s redeployment from Gaza and then because of the war on Israel’s northern border following Hezbollah’s provocations.[15] The accounts therefore differ over whether a street parade took place that day; the State Department account identifies a stadium rally instead.

The 2005 controversy also involved proposals for a 10-day international World Gay Pride festival in Jerusalem, with planned street parties, workshops, and a gay film festival. The available report documents the plan and opposition, not that the festival was held as proposed. Israel’s chief rabbis, Christian clergy, and Muslim officials urged organizers to cancel or move it. Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger appealed, “Please do not damage the holiness of Jerusalem.” Mayor Uri Lupolianski said that police, rather than city hall, licensed public events; police had received requests not to issue a permit and had not yet decided.[16]

The 2007 march proceeded after weeks of protests, petitions, and attempts to stop it. Organizers described its purpose as protesting homophobia and incitement and promoting LGBTQ rights. About 2,000 people participated, while more than 7,000 police officers protected the marchers; around 20 people were arrested after protesting, and police canceled a planned post-march party shortly before the event began.[17] One participant later described hundreds of anti-gay demonstrators lining the route and said snipers were stationed on nearby rooftops; he reported that no violence occurred during that year’s parade.[18]

The 2008 debate included calls by religious leaders and political parties to cancel the parade or move it to an enclosed venue outside the city center. Their objections cited the proposed route’s proximity to the Old City, holy sites, religious neighborhoods, and children. Lupolianski joined calls for cancellation and described the event as a provocation. The same report recalled that the November 2006 event had been held inside a Jerusalem stadium after pressure from the ultra-Orthodox community.[19]

The June 25, 2009 Pride rally took place peacefully with police authorization and protection; police arrested one person for throwing eggs, and demonstrations against the march were held in an ultra-Orthodox part of the city.[20] The July 29, 2010 rally drew an estimated 2,000 participants and was also authorized and protected by police. Three anti-gay rallies took place in connection with it. At one in Independence Park, protesters carried signs reading “Sick perverts, get out of Jerusalem”; another demonstration occurred in Mea Shearim.[21]

The organization’s municipal funding was also an ongoing question distinct from parade permits. A 2010 Supreme Court ruling required the municipality to allocate public support for Jerusalem Open House activities after previous refusals. The ruling concerned funding for the organization’s activities, not specifically parade financing.[22] The Open House continued to pursue legal remedies, including petitions to the High Court of Justice against the municipality and police, as described in the Jerusalem Institute study.[1]

The 2015 terrorist attack was the most lethal episode in the parade’s history. On July 30, Yishai Schlissel attacked participants at the Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance in West Jerusalem. He had been released from prison weeks earlier after serving a sentence for the 2005 stabbing. The State Department reported that 16-year-old Shira Banki was killed and five others injured; it also described six people as stabbed.[3] The Jerusalem Institute report describes Banki as 15 and says five other people were wounded, so the differing figures are presented here as reported rather than reconciled.[1] The World Jewish Congress said Schlissel had stabbed six participants and called the attack a hate crime; the Anti-Defamation League said that his arrest for attacking the same event ten years earlier indicated it was most likely a hate crime, while emphasizing that the investigation had just begun.[4][23]

Schlissel was indicted on August 23 on one count of murder and six counts of attempted murder.[3] The Jewish Virtual Library says he was convicted of murder and multiple attempted-murder charges in April 2016.[10] A later report describes a sentence of life imprisonment, an additional 30 years for attempted murders, and a further year for violating release conditions.[24] During the trial, the court said police knew of the potential danger he posed but failed to prevent the attack. It criticized the failure to apply lessons from the 2005 stabbing and the way Schlissel entered the march and attacked participants before being apprehended; six senior police officers were removed from their posts, according to the report.[24]

The attack also prompted public mourning and responses beyond the parade route. Banki, who had come to support the LGBTQ community, became the focus of a public shiva organized by the Yerushalmit movement in a public square. Activist Sarah Weil described the gathering as allowing civil society to mourn together; she said organizers continued facilitated dialogue circles in Zion Square nearly every Thursday night, with trained professionals present to help keep difficult conversations from becoming violent.[25] Demonstrations against violence were held in cities around the country, and politicians across the political spectrum condemned the violence.[26] The Open House established a support center for people affected by the attack, and the parade did not reach its planned finish that day.[8]

In 2016, the march was dedicated to Banki’s memory and was described by the Jerusalem Institute study as the largest Pride parade the city had seen to that point, with unprecedented participation by people outside the LGBTQ community.[1] Ynet reported that more than 25,000 attended, based on a police estimate. The event opened with the wedding of Jerusalem residents Yohai Verman and Yotam Hacohen at Bell Garden; the couple said they wanted to share the occasion with marchers. Hacohen said they remembered those who had fought and sacrificed so they could choose one another openly, and described the previous year’s murder as “a kind of destruction of Jerusalem.”[27] Ynet’s report gave two differing figures for suspects arrested or detained in connection with the event: an opening account said 48 had been arrested since the parade began, while a police statement quoted later said 12 had been detained so far. The report did not reconcile the numbers; it said some were suspected of trying to disrupt or harm the march and that knives were found on some detainees.[27]

In 2018, about 20,000 people marched, although some reports put attendance as high as 35,000. The two-kilometer route began at Liberty Bell Park and ran through the city center. The official theme honored elderly members and pioneers of the LGBTQ community. The march took place amid protests against a surrogacy law that excluded gay men from access to parenthood through surrogacy.[28] Security remained extensive: about 2,500 officers, including border police and plainclothes officers, were deployed. Organizers distributed flowers in Banki’s memory, and marchers paused at the junction where she had been murdered to place flowers near her poster.[28]

In 2019, LGBTI activists were able to hold public events and demonstrations with few restrictions. Police withdrew a demand that all participants in the Jerusalem pride parade provide identification after negotiations with the Jerusalem Open House.[29] The 2023 parade drew an estimated 30,000 people, which the Open House described as its largest turnout since 2016. Around 2,000 police and riot police were present, and barriers separated the march from a far-right protest across the road. Participants called for tolerance and equality and also voiced opposition to the government’s judicial overhaul; the event passed without security incidents.[30]

The 2024 march took place amid the war and was held while Pride parades in Tel Aviv and Haifa were canceled. Organizers used the slogan “Born to Be Free” and joined customary advocacy for LGBTQ rights with calls for the release of hostages held in Gaza. The Jerusalem Open House described the event as more subdued than usual and asked marchers not to play music along the route. The planned route ran from Bell Park through central streets to Independence Garden.[5] Open House CEO Nili Madarer said organizers had deliberated about whether and how to hold the parade after October 7 and the grief and losses that followed. She described it as both a protest for LGBTQ rights and an expression of solidarity with hostage families, arguing that the march mattered in the capital because decisions affecting LGBTQ rights and the hostages were made there. She said the nonprofit produced the parade without municipal support and characterized it as Israel’s largest LGBTQ protest.[6]

The 2025 march marked ten years since Banki’s murder and followed the customary route from Bell Park to Independence Garden. Ynet reported about 10,000 participants.[31] The Jerusalem Institute report calls the event the 23rd parade and dates it to June 5, while separately dating the first parade to 2002; it does not explain the intervening edition count.[1] The report describes a route from Bell Park along Keren Hayesod Street, past the Washington Street memorial to Banki, through Paris Square and King George Street, and onward to Independence Garden. Its author estimated that about 2,000 police officers secured the event; no total attendance figure is given in that account.[1]

President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal visited the Washington Street memorial and laid a wreath, the first time the president had visited the memorial at a Jerusalem Pride parade. Banki’s parents, Uri and Mika, were also present, and the report records mixed reactions nearby to the presidential visit.[1] Herzog attended and spoke at the parade, according to Ynet. The same report says about 2,000 officers were deployed and 10 participants were arrested or detained, amid confrontations over confiscated signs and stickers opposing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the war.[31] The closing event at Independence Garden included speeches and performances. Uri Banki spoke on behalf of Derech Shira Banki, calling for social and educational work for tolerance, moderate dialogue, and acceptance of others; a Jerusalem trans activist, a representative of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, and Jerusalem Open House representatives also appeared.[1]

In 2026, the parade used a new route beginning at Sacher Park and ending at the Rose Garden near the Knesset, passing the Supreme Court area. It called for full legal equality, personal safety, and an end to incitement, and Maariv estimated that about 10,000 people attended.[7] Speakers included opposition leader Yair Lapid, who pledged that a future government would legislate equal rights for all couples, alongside lawmakers and organizers who framed the march as a demand for LGBTQ representation and equal rights.[7]

After the 2005 and 2015 stabbings, security became a prominent feature of the march. Jerusalem Pride marches continued after the attacks with a large security presence.[10] Since the 2015 attack, police have restricted entry points and searched participants, according to reporting on the 2018 parade; that year’s deployment included about 2,500 officers.[28] The 2023 march likewise had around 2,000 police and riot police, and the 2025 report estimated a similar police deployment.[30][1]

The Banki memorial has become part of the event’s public remembrance. Flowers were distributed and laid at the site of the 2015 attack during the 2018 march, and the 2025 route passed the Washington Street memorial. The following year after her murder, the parade was dedicated to her memory and attracted participation from beyond the LGBTQ community, according to the Jerusalem Institute study.[28][1]

The parade’s continuation has also been accompanied by recurring reports of threats and anti-LGBTQ hostility outside the annual event. The Jerusalem Institute study describes calls for violence during the decade before the 2025 march, Pride flags torn down from private homes or burned by youths in Zion Square and city parks, and attacks on LGBTQ people around the Central Bus Station.[1] It also records continuing protests and court petitions in later years, while noting that the High Court allowed the parade to continue.[1]

Public visibility and the parade’s political role have evolved alongside the city’s security and social debates. In 2023, marchers linked LGBTQ equality with opposition to the government’s judicial overhaul; in 2024, organizers linked LGBTQ rights with solidarity for hostage families; and in 2026, the revised route toward the Knesset and Supreme Court area emphasized action by decision-makers.[30][6][7] The recurring use of the march to address rights, safety, recognition, and public policy reflects its dual character as an annual gathering and a protest.

Accounts of the parade emphasize different aspects of the event: its annual character, its place in Jerusalem’s public life, and its function as a protest for recognition. The Jerusalem Institute study distinguishes it from Tel Aviv’s more celebratory pride event and presents the Jerusalem march as a continuing demand for public recognition. Organizers have also described it as rooted in the city and responsive to the needs of local LGBTQ residents.[1][2]

The 2015 attack is central to many later accounts, both because Shira Banki was killed and because the attacker had also stabbed participants in 2005. The recurrence shaped subsequent security practices and made memorial acts part of later marches. The attack was described as a hate crime by the World Jewish Congress; the ADL characterized it as most likely a hate crime while noting that the investigation had only just begun.[4][23] Those are the organizations’ characterizations, rather than a substitute for the reported legal proceedings and facts of the attack.

The parade’s trajectory also includes institutional and legal disputes over permission, public funding, routes, and security. Court rulings required the municipality to permit marches and, in a separate funding matter, to support the Jerusalem Open House’s activities. Later reporting describes the Open House as organizing the annual march since 2002, while the 2026 march’s route toward national institutions gave organizers a visible way to direct demands for equality toward decision-makers.[9][11][7]

The continuing march has also been interpreted as a public response to violence and exclusion. A participant at the 2016 parade described the wedding ceremony at its opening as an occasion to remember those who had struggled so same-sex couples could choose each other openly. Uri Banki’s 2025 appeal for tolerance, moderate dialogue, and acceptance brought the memory of his daughter into a broader call for social and educational work.[27][1]

Religious and political opposition has been a recurring feature of the parade’s history. In 2005, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders protested the planned march, and similar protests preceded the planned 2006 event. The Jerusalem Institute study records opposition among religious publics, including Haredi communities and Christian and Muslim leaders; opponents described the parade as foreign to Jerusalem’s conservative character or as a provocation. These are attributed views, not neutral descriptions of the event.[1][9]

Public statements by opponents included Mayor Uri Lupolianski’s 2005 comparison of the parade to a provocation on the Temple Mount. In 2010, anti-gay demonstrators used hostile signs at a rally, while reports from 2007 described anti-gay demonstrations and a reported curse against those involved in the march.[1][21][18] The 2023 Hamas statement condemned the planned march and called for people to confront it, framing the issue in terms of Jerusalem’s Arab and Islamic identity; that was Hamas’s political characterization.[32]

The 2005 and 2015 attacks involved violence against march participants. In 2015, the World Jewish Congress called the stabbing a hate crime, while the ADL said it was most likely a hate crime but cautioned that the investigation had only begun. Schlissel’s release before the second attack and subsequent court criticism of police preparedness prompted scrutiny of security and institutional failures.[4][23][24]

Several accounts differ on specific details, including the spelling of Schlissel’s name, the description of his earlier sentence, the format of the November 2006 event, and attendance estimates for some later marches. The State Department’s 2006 report says organizers canceled the street parade and held a stadium rally, whereas My Jewish Learning says the parade was ultimately held; the State Department accounts describe a 12-year sentence, while a 2015 report says Schlissel had completed a 10-year term. These differences are reported here without treating them as settled by the available material.[14][15][3][33]