Hundreds of LGBTQ activists took to the streets Wednesday, blocking major roads in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in protest of the exclusion of single men from a recent amendment to Israel's surrogacy law.
Israel has been debating an amendment to the law seeking to make the procedure available to single women. MK Amir Ohana, the first openly gay Likud legislator, sought to include an article in the bill that would make single men and, by extension, gay couples, equally eligible for this process.
Currently, single Israeli men, regardless of their sexual orientation, who wish to become fathers through a surrogate mother, must pursue this process outside the country.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially endorsed Ohana's initiative, but the move enraged the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, who threatened to vote against the nation-state law, a flagship coalition initiative.
While the amendment passed its Knesset readings with a vote of 59 in favor and 52 against, the article proposed by Ohana was excluded from the bill, as Netanyahu moved to bloc it.
Rebuffing criticism, the prime minister said, "Contrary to media reports, I have been absolutely consistent in the position on surrogacy. I support surrogacy for mothers and fathers. I told MK Ohana upfront that I would not back his amendment because it will undercut the bill as a whole. This bill focused on single mothers. I told him to sponsor a separate amendment focusing on fathers, which I will support."
Furious, LGBTQ activists called on the community to block roads in prowwww. Hundreds heeded the call, blocking main junctions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and disrupting traffic for several hours.
A spokesman for the Association of Israeli Gay Fathers said further demonstrations were underway.
"Of course, everyone is really disappointed and now they are organizing a lot of protests and actions," he said. "We are trying to organize a strike for Sunday and calling on all LGBTQ people not to go to work – something that has never happened in the past."
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak lambasted Netanyahu, tweeting, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is spineless. First, he says that he is in favor of surrogacy for homosexual fathers and then votes against it."
Tyler Gregory, executive director of the New York-based A Wider Bridge, which promotes ties between Israel and its LGBT community, warned that gay people faced "mounting odds" in the wake of the passage of the bill.
"As a newlywed likely to pursue surrogacy with my husband someday, I'm taking this news personally, and I hope our supporters will too," he said.
"We may have lost last night, but the struggle to build a stronger, more inclusive Israel is far from over."
