Knesset

• A sea corridor has been opened between Cyprus and Gaza and the first shipments of aid are arriving from Europe.
• But it’s thought that it will be difficult to get a sufficient amount of food, fuel and medicine in by sea.
• Ramadan is a central event in the Islamic holy calendar, commemorating Muhammad’s first revelation of what would later become the Qur'an.
• The death toll, according to the Gaza health ministry, has topped 31,000 with nearly 73,000 more people injured.

West Bank

• Instead of being bustling with activity, the narrow alleys of the Old City were almost empty, with many local shops closed.
• According to Surah 17 in the Qur'an, Muhammad ascended to heaven from the site of Al-Aqsa after his miraculous night journey from Mecca.
• The holy site is traditionally visited by tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims each day as part of their Ramadan celebrations.
• That instantly resulted in scuffles at one of the shrine’s entrances, with Israeli officers using batons on the Palestinian crowd.

Carlo Aldrovandi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Many private organizations followed, including:
  For several years, the Military Security Coordinators Organization in the Israel National Labor Federation has warned about the negligence of the military reserve squads, suffering from lack of equipment and weapons.
• Yoav Simchi, Chairman of the National Labor Federation: "It's time to put an end to the saga of the abandoning of the Military Security Coordinators in Israel.
• I call for the immediate establishment of a National Authority for the Military Security Coordinators.
• There cannot be discussions regarding the future of the Military Security Coordinators, while leaving the Military Security Coordinators out of the game.

• As Time magazine put it recently: “The sources of Biden’s grievances are manifold.
• Since reclaiming power, Netanyahu has formed a hard-right coalition filled with ultraconservative and ultra-Orthodox voices.
• They now number more than half a million across the West Bank, with many seeing it as their God-given land.

‘Terror’ on the West Bank

• The Israeli agriculture minister, Avi Dichter, tried to dismiss this as a misinformed comment.
• Behind all of this is a major problem for the Israelis in securing the West Bank for the Jewish settlers.
• A subsequent IDF rescue operation required a substantial ground force backed up by AH-64 Apache helicopters using air-to-ground missiles and took nine hours to complete.

Security and settlers

• Most analysts had come to the view that Israel had sufficient forces needed to ensure its own security – whether in southern Lebanon, Gaza or the West Bank.
• Many settlers live close to Palestinian towns and villages and are afforded protection by the Israeli government which is controlled by ultra-right parties sympathetic to the settler movement.
• The settlers will remain, they are well armed and utterly convinced that they are right.

• But among other concerns, many Israelis fear that hard-line conservative ministers will roll back LGBTQ rights.
• Opponents, however, fear that Israel’s balance of being a democratic state and a Jewish one is tipping away from democracy.
• I believe the lack of separation between law and religion has at times actually helped advance LGBTQ Jews’ rights.

The ‘gay decade’

• Israel’s first LGBTQ organization, The Aguda, was founded in 1975 as a grassroots, volunteer-based human rights nonprofit.
• A groundbreaking 1983 Aguda pamphlet appealed to scientific evidence and international legal precedents to make the case for ending prejudice and discrimination.
• Same-sex partners were recognized for welfare in 1994, national insurance benefits in 1999 and pension benefits in 2000.

Uneven gains

• Municipal and state investments have made the Tel Aviv Pride Parade a top destination for Pride month travelers around the world.
• The late 1990s and the aughts also saw a significant expansion of organizations to support LGBTQ people and their families.
• Still, access to protections has always been uneven.

Path to acceptance

• Although a minority, religious conservatives have been power brokers and members of government coalitions for most of the state of Israel’s history.
• Yet certain aspects of the country’s political landscape help explain the LGBTQ movement’s successes – as do activists’ strategic choices.
• First, the lack of separation of state and religion means that Israel does not offer a civil marriage option, even for opposite-sex couples.

Pivotal moment?

• Jewish religious conservatives have long viewed acceptance of LGBTQ people’s rights as an affront to the state’s Jewish character.
• In the past, ruling coalitions with both political moderates and Orthodox parties guaranteed some modicum of compromise, including on LGBTQ rights.
• But the current ruling coalition rests on the support of religious ultranationalists, including ministers who have openly opposed LGBTQ rights.