Reflecting on the 2022 Tel Aviv Pride Parade

An estimated 170,000 people attended the Tel Aviv Pride Parade on the morning of Friday, June 10. Although there was a Pride Parade in Tel Aviv in 2021, this year’s event was the first to happen after Israel re-opened its borders to tourists of all ages, regardless of vaccination status. As a result, people came from around the world to celebrate.

While waiting for a cab to take him to the parade, David Benaym, a journalist residing in Tel Aviv, met a father with his 10-year-old gay son who traveled to Tel Aviv specifically for the parade. 

“The kid was born in Israel and now goes to Jewish school in Georgia, and the father really wanted to make him feel included,” Benaym said. “The father was proud to say, ‘That’s my son, he’s 10 years old, we’re living in Atlanta and we really wanted to come to the parade.’ That’s what really moved me the most.”

Because of extensive construction in the city center of Tel Aviv where the parade usually takes place, the parade route went north of the city. This made the trek to and into the parade a bit more arduous for some attendees. 

“The whole purpose is for inclusiveness, understanding, opening up the minds, and this year, for some reason the parade had a bitter taste because it wasn’t in the heart of the city like it normally is,” Benaym said. “It was moved all the way up north of the city, not at all in the city center where families, religious, secular, young and old [and] all faiths normally live and gather and encounter the parade. This year, you need to walk miles and miles to access [it].” 

Benaym said he hopes that next year, the Pride Parade will return to be a more inclusive and accessible parade for the whole population. Still, many people celebrated the day in their own way. 

A first-time attendee, Karin Wolok, who describes herself as “the Queen Bee of Tel Aviv,” relished the family vibe of the entire scene.

“It’s really nice to see so many people come out and support the event. What an awesome way to spread love and acceptance.”
– Karin Wolok

 “There were so many people, and it was people of all ages and backgrounds, truly a rainbow of people,” Wolok said. “I even saw families having picnics with their children in the grass. It’s really nice to see so many people come out and support the event. What an awesome way to spread love and acceptance.”

The parade was attended by many prominent lawmakers and entertainers, including Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, rapper Iggy Azalea and 1998 Eurovision winner Dana International. 

“We are winning the fight for the community, but we need to keep going,” Lapid told the crowd. “As long as there is an LGBTQ child in the periphery who is afraid, we will march for them.”

Having government officials speak to the crowd sent a powerful message to the Pride Parade attendees.

“To have someone that high up in Israel speak [at the Pride Parade] is so important, and it shows that there are people in the government [who] do represent the people in this way,” said Hallel Silverman, a content creator and digital activist who made aliyah from Massachusetts in 2006. Silverman recalled how important it felt in 2021 when Lapid ordered the pride flag to be displayed at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem during Pride Month. 

 “[The parade] was a really post-COVID vibe,” she said. “You’re part of the top Pride Parade in the world, and it symbolizes who we are and what we want. We just need to loudly be ourselves and do what we do.”

Silverman also makes sure to attend the Pride Parade in Jerusalem, with this year being the city’s 20th. She said the sentiment feels a bit different than the festive parade 67 kilometers to the west in Tel Aviv. 

“In Jerusalem it’s a protest, [and] in Tel Aviv it’s a celebration,” Silverman said.

“The beauty of Tel Aviv is that we’re saying we are open, we are progressive, we are the future and we are Israel.”
– Hallel Silverman

“The beauty of Tel Aviv is that we’re saying we are open, we are progressive, we are the future and we are Israel,” said Silverman. “There’s something so communal and loving. Everyone talks to each other and makes new friends. It’s a mishpacha moment with tens of thousands of people, and to have that Jewish energy on top of it makes it a beautiful march.”