Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren recently boasted about Israel's record on gay rights - however the LGBT community in Jerusalem has faced repeated intolerance and push back from the government. A proposal to be presented this Sunday to extend protection from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation will be the real test of its commitment to gay rights.  By Elinor Sidi "In Israel, LGBT rights is not an issue that divides us, it is a vision that unites us," said Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, in Philadelphia two weeks ago. In his keynote, Oren took…

The Knesset Lobby for Civil Egalitarianism and Pluralism, founded just over half a year ago, held an emergency session open to the public last Tuesday to address the letter signed by hundreds of rabbis in Israel banning the sale or rental of property in Israel to non-Jews. A variety of MKs, professors, rabbis and community leaders convened in an oval-shaped conference room at the far end of the Knesset compound, where they took turns making statements. MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), who co-chairs the Lobby with MK Shlomo Molla (Kadima), opened by stating that there is no contradiction between Israel being…