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According to The Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel, by 2009 Israel’s demographic characteristics showed that 75.5% of the total Israeli population were Jews, 20.3% were Arabs and 4.1% were defined as others. These populations are among those who are intolerant of homosexuality and sexual permissiveness in Israel.

Israel is a small but very diverse state religiously and ethnically. Within Israel there are communities from the ultra-Orthodox to the non-religious. Each community deals with various areas of life differently. Specifically, when it comes to homosexuality and sexual permissiveness, each community has its own level of tolerance and intolerance. 

Those that are most intolerant of homosexuality and sexual permissiveness are among the ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Christian and Arab communities. The similarity amongst these communities and their intolerance is religion. Each religious community follows the laws and commandments of their own religious codes. 

The Jewish ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox communities follow the laws of the Torah where G-d explicitly states, “You shall not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). The ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox communities take this law very seriously. Some Mizrahi families will abandon, ex-communicate or threaten to kill one of their own family members for being a homosexual (Rosenthal, 372). Your family's background also makes a difference in how you approach the subject. Those who come from an Ashkenazi background may feel they have a little more leeway in telling their family about their homosexuality, even if they risk losing their family. Whereas those who come from a Mizrahi background would rather stay “in the closet” then reveal their true sexual orientation to their families (Rosenthal, 372). Some orthodox Jews compare being homosexual to eating pork on high holidays such as Yom Kippur (Rosenthal, 373). To them, it is simply against Judaism to be gay (Rosenthal, 374). 

It is so unforgiving and dishonorable to your family to be gay in the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox communities that many homosexual men and women will refrain from saying anything to their families and will go on to marry and have children. The rate at which these men and women marry without announcing their true sexual orientation is much higher than in the secular communities (Rosenthal, 375). Who would blame them for not wanting to be honest with themselves or their communities? Especially when there are signs and posters being printed and hung in religious areas by right wing conservative organizations about their definition of a “normal” family. 

Haaretz reported on April 10, 2019 that a banner was hung on the side of Prima Park Hotel in Jerusalem with a slogan stating that a mother and a father equal a family. Even though the banner did not have any anti-gay words written on it, the slogan was read loud and clear. A family that did not look like their model was unacceptable. At the bottom of the banner was the name Hazon movement. The Hazon movement is associated with a non-profit organization called Gevanim. 

The Ministry of Justice described Gevanim as a non-profit organization which organizes ethical public Jewish events and Torah related education activities. The non-profit is run out of Ramat Hasharon and was initiated by Netanel Siman Tov who works with Yitzhak Mirilashvili, a business. The Hazon movement is not associated with any official legal non-profit but is run by some religious right and ultra-Orthodox nationalists. This gives us a little more understanding as to why the Hazon movement is posting these slogans in the first place. Haaretz goes on to explain the intricate workings within the organization and who they receive funding from. They name Siman Tov as the establisher of King Solomon, Reshit and Gevanim who all support the Hazon movement. Miralashvili helped build the King Solomon school in Ramat Hasharon. The authors of the Haaretz article worked hard to show their readers the lengths at which these men have gone to in order to avoid direct association with the Hazon movement. They also mention the Democratic Bloc, the Israeli Reform movement and the Havruta organization are all working hard to expose and fight against the hatred being shown to the Jewish LGBT community. 

Not only are the ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Christian and Islamic communities against homosexuality, they are also against sexual permissiveness. According to a survey reported by Rosenthal, 26% of married Israelis live with their spouse before marriage, and if they are living together, they are most likely having pre-marital sex (Rosenthal, 29). Among Mizrahi Jews and Christian Arabs, the number of couples who live together before marriage are much lower. If you enter an ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox or Muslim Arab community, the rate of couples living together before marriage will be zero (Rosenthal, 29). In those same communities, showing physical affection to the opposite sex in general is also not allowed, married or not (Rosenthal, 33 & 376).

Similar to the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews, the Christian and Arabs condemn homosexuality (Rosenthal, 377). The Qu ‘ran tells stories of Lut in Sodom and Gommorah, same as in the Christian bible, discovering the sins the people are committing. Lut tells them they are an abomination for committing acts of sex with men like they would women. 

Rosenthal tells her readers of an Arab man whose mother discovers he is gay. She tells him being gay is just a condition and that he should pray for it to go away. When her husband found out that their son is gay, he divorced her and married another woman (Rosenthal, 376). Even the Sheik Salah called homosexuality a great crime that would anger Allah and cause terrible things to happen (Rosenthal, 376). When you have communities that believe as strongly as these communities do in their religion, you end up with people who are unwilling to look past the Qu ‘ran, Torah or Bible and at their family with tolerance.