Pride parade in Tel Aviv draws tens of thousands

By EMILY ROSE
Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are attending this year’s Pride Parade in Tel Aviv. They are celebrating the LGBTQ community and calling for equality in the largest annual gathering of its kind in the Middle East. The sprawling event in Israel’s seaside metropolis, which resembles a festive block party, returned last year after pandemic restrictions were mostly lifted. This year it is being held after Israel reopened to foreign tourists. Organizers moved the event from the seaside promenade to a larger venue elsewhere in the city this year. Israeli authorities have been increasingly concerned about managing crowds since a stampede at a religious festival last year that killed 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews.