speaking at a tourism fair in London last month before the scheduled Jerusalem gay pride march was set to take place, Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog told the British LGBT news Web site Pinknews.co.uk: "Gays and lesbians are welcome in Israel."

Herzog spoke proudly of his support for fair housing laws for the gay community when he was housing minister. These comments were cheered in Britain and scored well for Israeli public relations.

But the tourism minister prides himself on being a champion of gay rights in London only, far from the Israeli media. Back home, the Labor minister did not publicly support the right of assembly for LGBT people. Pinknews reported: "Tourism minister shamed over Jerusalem Gay Pride."

As far as I know, Herzog did not condemn weeks of violent protests against the planned gay pride event here in Israel - though some of that violence was fanned by other government ministers.
This duality exemplifies how Israeli policymakers and spokesmen try to have their cake and eat it, too: enjoying a reputation as liberal advocates of human rights - thus appealing to dominant sentiments in Europe and North America - without actually earning this reputation.

Before events surrounding the Jerusalem pride gathering exposed the depth of homophobia among Israeli lawmakers to the world (Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai compared the parade to a terror attack), Israel had been generally perceived abroad as a progressive society in terms of inclusion and acceptance of LGBT people.

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