Shocking video shows car ramming into gay activist in ‘homophobic’ attack at protest against Israel’s surrogacy law
An LGBT+ activist has posted a video that shows a car being driven into him in Beer-Sheva, Israel, in what he has described as an act of “homophobia.”
Or Erez, a spokesperson for the Tel Aviv Municipal LGBT Community Center, had been taking part in a protest against LGBT+ exclusion from the country’s new surrogacy law, reports Ynetnews.
The law, passed last week, extends surrogacy rights to women who cannot naturally conceive.
However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked an amendment by a member of centre-right political Likud, which would have extended the same right to gay couples and single men.
The move has led to a tidal wave of fury against the state and Netanyahu personally, with massive protests taking place across the country, including in Beer-Sheva, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Karmiel.
Erez told Ynetnews that he would file a complaint to the police over the incident.
“They protested and blocked the road. A car tried to run me over. I jumped on the car hood so he couldn’t hit me and I fell on the road,” he told the publication.
“The driver cursed us. I saw the hate in his eyes. It’s simply homophobia. There is no other explanation.”
In a video posted on Facebook, a car can be seen driving towards Erez, who is filming, at about 50 seconds in.
The car can then be heard hitting Erez, who shouts loudly.
Posting the video on Facebook, Erez wrote: “I just got run over at the bar seven protest. I saw the hate in the eyes.”
Speaking to Ynetnews, Erez said: “A car tried to run me over. I jumped on the car hood so he couldn’t hit me and I fell on the road.
“The driver cursed us. I saw the hate in his eyes. It’s simply homophobia. There is no other explanation.”
He said two other protestors filed a complaint to police over the incident.
Protest against PM Benjamin Netanyahu. (The Aguda – The Israeli National LGBT Task Force)
The activist added: “Another driver threatened one of the female activists. He said: ‘I know who you are. I’ll murder you.’ He took a photograph of her and that proves to us just how right our campaign is and how much work be have before us.”
Protests against the new surrogacy law continued over the weekend.
According to the Jerusalem Post, protesters recently gathered outside Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem, chanting slogans accusing him of being a homophobe.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, protesters shut down the Ayalon Highway – one of the main thoroughfares in the city.
