Israeli culture wars: Shin Bet chief under fire for canceling Pride Month events in the intelligence agency

With new elections fast approaching, parties across Israel's political spectrum are always looking for issues to mobilize their base – and while culture wars are not as pronounced in Israel as elsewhere in the West, issues around sexuality still have explosive power.

This is what Shin Bet Director David Zini is finding out as he came under heavy fire on Tuesday, mostly from left-wing politicians and activists, after a report by Channel 12 News revealed his moves against “pride-themed” and LGBTQ-related events within the intelligence agency.

The religiously observant, Kippa-wearing Zini became the new director of the domestic intelligence service, Shin Bet (ISA), last October, after a protracted legal battle during which some criticized him as a Netanyahu-stooge and a “messianic” religious fanatic.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that Zini recently decided not to approve several events planned as part of “Pride Month,” the annual global observance held in June.

According to sources, this included canceling a planned lecture and denying requests to display Pride-themed banners and screensavers around the Shin Bet building, fly pride flags in its event hall, produce pride stickers, and distribute pride-related content through the organization’s internal systems.

In addition, the Human Resources Division was reportedly ordered to transfer its dedicated pride-related funds into the general budget, effectively shutting down the LGBTQ employee group.

Shin Bet officials didn’t comment on the Channel 12 report, which also noted that these measures are contrary to established practices in other security agencies, including the Mossad, as well as most political parties in the country, which have LGBTQ groups.

Zini’s actions reportedly sparked criticism among employees of the Shin Bet and drew strong condemnation from LGBTQ rights groups, gay celebrities and opposition lawmakers, while some coalition members expressed support for Zini.

Nimrod Gorenstein, chair of Israel’s main LGBTQ rights group, “The Aguda,” demanded Zini reverse his decision and focus on security rather than the “LGBTQ community.”

“Precisely at a time when the State of Israel is facing unprecedented security threats, the head of the Shin Bet, who leads an organization whose legal duty is to safeguard the democratic order and its institutions, has chosen to engage in the exclusion of employees from the LGBTQ community,” Gorenstein said.

Yorai Lahav-Hertzanu of the "Together party," who is head of the Knesset’s informal LGBTQ Caucus, vowed that “the next government will not allow homophobes to head any body in the public service.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has long championed LGBTQ rights, called Zini’s conduct “a disgrace.”

“His LGBTQ personnel are just as good as any other personnel and save Israeli lives just like any other member of the service. I want to tell them today – we are proud of you and deeply grateful to you. In the government we establish, dark and backward views will have no place in Israel's public sphere,” Lapid said.

While serving as Israel's foreign minister from 2019 to 2022, Lapid ordered the pride flag to be raised above the Foreign Ministry during Pride Month for the first time in Israel’s history. The current government has not continued this practice.

The most intense criticism came from the far-left "The Democrats" party, which sees itself as the main champion for LGBTQ rights in the country.

Its chairman, Yair Golan, noted that the community “is not a threat to Israel's security. Discrimination, extremism, and messianism are the threats. The Shin Bet must be a home for everyone who serves the state with loyalty and professionalism – regardless of their identity.”

Yaya Fink, a former anti-judicial reform protest leader and now candidate in the Democrats' primaries, organized the hanging of pride flags near the Shin Bet building on Wednesday morning.

רצינו לנצח את איראן - לא להפוך לאיראן.

הבוקר תלינו דגלי גאווה ושלטים בסמוך ל"מתקן ביטחוני" כדי להעביר מסר ברור לראש השב"כ דוד זיני:
שב"כ הוא גוף ממלכתי, לא הלכתי.

ההחלטה לבטל את אירועי הגאווה ולסגור את התא הגאה בארגון היא יריקה בפרצוף של המשרתים. גם בשב״כ יש הומואים ולסביות… pic.twitter.com/zL1Ma9tBuf

— yayafink (יאיא פינק) (@yayafink) June 24, 2026

“Zini, we wanted to defeat Iran – not become Iran. There are gay men and lesbians in the Shin Bet as well. The Shin Bet is a state institution, not a religious one [Hebrew: mamlakhti, lo hilkhati]. Extremism and religious coercion are a strategic threat to the only country we have, no less than our enemies from outside,” Fink charged.

On the other side, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich argued, “The resources of the security system must be directed toward the core security missions for which they are intended, and those alone. The public debate surrounding social agendas belongs in the public and political sphere, not at the heart of the security establishment's operations.”

“I strengthen the hand of the Shin Bet chief in his decision to remove progressive agendas from the service, and I am confident that he is acting out of professional responsibility and for the sake of the state's security,” he said.

Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli agreed that “it is not the role of national security organizations to promote gender and LGBTQ agendas. The IDF and Shin Bet are not universities, nor are they political organizations. Their role is one: to safeguard Israel's security!”