Assi Azar blasts Shin Bet chief over Pride cancellations

News that Shin Bet chief David Zini decided to cancel Pride Month events and the annual budget for the agency’s LGBTQ group has triggered backlash online and beyond. Among the most vocal critics was television personality Assi Azar, a leading figure in Israel’s LGBTQ community who is married to Albert Escola and has two children.

In a series of Instagram stories, Azar urged Zini to reverse what he called a “sad” decision. “Shin Bet chief Zini, I hope you take back this sad decision,” he wrote. “Are we really that scary to you?” He added that he expected Knesset Speaker and former Shin Bet member Amir Ohana, who is openly gay, to speak out on the matter.

Azar went further, saying the move sends a message to LGBTQ Israelis that if they wanted to enlist in the Shin Bet, “it would be better to go back into the closet.” He concluded, “It won’t happen, Zini. We are here and we are not going anywhere.”

In another story, Azar addressed Ohana directly, writing that this is what happens “when you are first and foremost a politician and only then the partner of and father of.” He accused Ohana of aligning himself with those who seek to harm him, saying, “The main thing is the seat.”