Netanyahu flip-flops on surrogacy rights for gay men
The LGBT community is furious with the Israeli prime minister for going back on his promise to support an amendment allowing single men and gay couples to use surrogates in Israel and has called for massive strikes in protest.
On July 18, the Knesset approved a new law offering heterosexual couples and single women state-supported surrogacy. The new law excludes single men and gay couples. Previously, state support was offered only to married heterosexual couples. The final version did not include a proposed amendment that would have allowed single men to have a child in Israel through surrogacy.
There is no reason to be surprised that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly withdrew his support for the amendment. Supporting it would have meant angering the ultra-Orthodox Knesset factions and a potential coalition crisis just moments before the Knesset begins its summer recess on July 22.
Netanyahu is a whiz at zigzagging. He can be utterly convincing about his commitment to some position or other only to take the opposite stance in a matter of days or even hours. In April, he announced at a press conference that he had reached an agreement with the United Nations to solve the issue of refugees and migrant workers from Africa, only to cancel the agreement hours later due to pressure from the right.
The difference this time is the unprecedented and highly organized protest against Netanyahu’s U-turn. In an effort that is gathering momentum, the LGBT community called on its members to strike on July 22.
