This is supposed to be a report, not an op-ed, but it takes an obvious position--that "acceptance" of LGBT is good. But what does acceptance mean? I favor being nice and kind and socially accepting to gay people, but I oppose gay marriage. So how would I answer the question about "accepting"? I do not accept the "transgender" stuff--I think it's a cruel farce. Surgeons cannot change your gender. The "transgender" people I've seen make me feel sorry for them. If you have this desire to change your gender, seek psychological counseling.

Democracy vs Mediarchy

40% kidding me

Israelis are very tolerant of the "other" but that is not the same as agreeing with or liking..It is on the whole a conservative and traditional culture. I personally don't think it bad, you don't have to accept, like, or agree with everything but you have to tolerate and respect each person as is.

giving the homosexual community carte blanche to flaunt their sexuality in public by means of "gay" parades in our cities, "gay rights" activities, demands for "gay rights" etc. I am a "straight" person and I have no wish to parade my "straightness" nor to demand any rights whatsoever to do with my sexual persuasion. Nor should the homosexual population. But the fact that they do so, so strenuously, emphatically and constantly tends to alienate us, the so-called straights.

With all the respect to these countries i do not believe this survey. I have been In both and know a lot of gay and non gay people from there. They are so much worse comparing to israel. The survey is nonsense.

The report on the latest gay acceptance survey is unfortunately distorted: 40% accepting gays in society sounds extremely low but once you look at the real figures, you see that only 2% of Israeli Arabs accept gays but in the total number of Israelis they were crazily over sampled: 504 Jews, 406 Arabs This should be mentioned in the article.

because they have been allowed and existing for centuries now ! What would you know about fighting for your rights?

This is becoming a matter of trying to force people to like or accept what they do not want to like or accept. Tolerance and indeifference should be just as acceptable to the gays as open acceptance of their sexuality and lifestyles. I personally believe that the Torah is right in that it warns us against homosexuality that brings a Spiritual blight and curse upon the land. Everything is energy. When the wrong energies are created then you get disease, plague, violence, harsh judgement, weakness, desolation. etc..

Yes, one can believe in being nice to gays without accepting the whole agenda. I admit to being mystified by this latest "Pride Parade" in Tel Aviv. Going around in weird underwear, kissing and making out in the streets--is this supposed to give me a good impression? I know there are many gay people who aren't like that and I imagine there are some who feel the way I (and many other straights) do about such "parades." Have some pride, don't prance around in underwear in public. Note also that Israel has the highest birthrates in the Western world. In other words, there's a strong stress on the "traditional"--natural, biological--family. It would be nice to have this great advantage for a society, and also have toleration for all kinds of deviations. But perhaps things can't be stretched that far. Nevertheless, cruelty toward gays is as reprehensible as cruelty toward people of any other category, and to be rejected entirely.

Having GAY GAY GAY rammed down our throats. Enough already!!

There is a difference between acceptng that some people are gay and believing this is good. We accept all Jews, but we also accept that male-on-male penetrative sex is a Torah prohibition in the same group as adultery and incest. We accept people who desecrate Shabbat, Kashrut and Taharat Mishpacha, but we don't think it is good.

Acceptance of same sex marriage is the sign of a declining society. Europe is declining with one economic crisis after another. Israel and the USA are not declining to the same extent.

There's no need to mention it in the article... If they would have sempled only jews, it would have been distorted anyway...

I refuse to accept and to like your Torah lifestyle and I refuse that you're trying to force me to live your lifestyle because you think your lifestyle is better than mine. I won't let my country to become the Jewish version of Iran because of people like you. Who said religious lifestyles are better than my lifestyle?

Not with their rising Muslim numbers.

"... they have been allowed and existing for centuries now..." Huh? Seems you don't know that up until fairly recent times homosexuals had to hide in figurative closets for fear of being found out. Homosexuality was illegal and used to be punishable by death or imprisonment.

A few hours ago, the Duma passed a law that bans gay "propaganda."

I am sure you have no need for pride parade that will fight and protect your rights. You have your rights. You can marry you can adopt children you can get mortgage from the bank a a family. But when it comes to me, I am this gay person that studied school and university, served IDF, pay huge taxes each month to support this country but i am denied to marry the one i love the most, denied to adopt children, denied to get a family mortgage and many other things. Can you now understand why i want to go out once a year on the streets and say out loud, heleo people i am here i do exist. I am like you but you do everything to deny my basic rights. e

There is only one way to find out. Put the beds in Ben Gurion and force every single person coming to Israel "perform" while watching reaction of onlookers. That would provided definitive answer who Israel likes better between gay and straight. May be re - naming Ben Gurion to Bad Onion ( as a reference to dark humor press organ gone bad ) can help.

Don't make me laugh. In those 'supposedly western tolerant countries there is a huge difference between polls & realities! Even in the 'once most tolerant cities for HOLEBI's (Amsterdam) an ever larger chunk of it's population wouldn't call HOLEBI's their 'brethren.....on the contrary, 'Homo slapping' has become a favorite sport and where HOLEBI's have to move house/city, in fear of their life. Israel is doing fine. I think that when those 'tolerant nations of the world would have Israel's problems, the ''tolerance would evaporate more quickly than the Austrian UN troops leaving the Golan!

You're the same as me in every way except sexual orientation. Heterosexuality and homosexuality are not the same. You are free to love whoever you want and live with whoever you want. Two gay guys adopting a child is not the same as a man and woman creating a child together. It is also not the same as a man and woman adopting a child. It's much better for a child to have both a mother and a father than to have two parents of the same sex, at least one of whom will NEVER be the natural parent. There are by now piles of sociological studies showing that being raised by two biological parents, male and female, is the best situation. Marriage is an institution for encouraging that situation as much as possible. It's a key to holding society together and keeping it strong. The strength of the "traditional" family in Israel is one of the foundations of Israel's strength and success as a society. You are of course entirely free to disagree with this and demonstrate in the streets for a different set of opinions. Do you think it makes a good impression on me if I see gay people doing this while making out with each other in pink underwear?

He's talking about straights

Acceptance and tolerance. I accept gay people as part of our community. What they do in their own private homes is none of my business. However, I do not accept that my tax money goes into a hedonistic street party no matter the sexual orientation of those involved. I do not need to label myself to be proud of who I am. The way I carry myself, the way I speak, the way I dress, and behave illuminates that pride. Not sure prancing around in pink panties would have the same effect.

I totally support Gays and anyone's right to marry legally in Israel. I was born a reform Jew, I can't marry legally in Israel either. Do I go out on the streets and have a "Reform Jew Pride Day" - no! Actually, Pride doesn't bother me, but the Israeli gay-vernment constantly kissing the @sses of Gay community just to win votes or get tourist €€£$ is BS! Tel Aviv is massively gay friendly, gays excel in Tel Aviv and can bypass the law in order to have the same rights as heteros (you would know this if you knew the right organisations). Gays have famillies in Tel Aviv - fact. Tel Aviv is not some sort of "officially gay city". Gays whining about their rights here is unneccessary and pathetic. Us tax-paying, army serving heteros are getting tired of it. We have rights too and we are not beholdent to the Gay community, get over it!

Actually, recent studies have shown that more than having two heterosexual parents, the factor that contributes most to stability when it comes to raising a child is whether or not the parents have a recognized legal commitment. Sounds like an argument in favor of gay marriage, if you ask me.

The sample is not representative for the Israeli population. 922 people were polled, 406 of them were Arabs and 500 Jews (plus a few listed as "others"). The Arab opinion is grossly over represented. A non-representative poll is a useless poll.

I am not homophobic and was in Tel Aviv last week-end just after the parade finished. The atmosphere was terrible and resembled that of the debauchery and debasement that brought down the Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires plus others. This had nothing in common with the flower children of the ''60s who offered love. And I'm not taking about homosexuals or lesbians but the feeling that anything goes if it's fun. I was a teenager in the late '60's and early '70s in London and sex was free but we didn't flaunt it in the street, Tel Aviv in no way resembles other parts of Israel; young men walking their poodles; bridal dresses that rent for $5000 a night; beauty parlors on almost every corner; and cafes that charge triple what I pay in Arad.