Tel Aviv Pride March Returns for the First Time Since 2023

Tel Aviv’s Pride March is being held today, Friday, for the first time since 2023, returning to its traditional route along the promenade and ending with a large party at Charles Clore Park. The city expects hundreds of thousands of participants from Israel and abroad, with colorful trucks and buses carrying LGBTQ community groups and supporters joining the procession.

Police said more than 1,000 officers, Border Police fighters, volunteers and special units will secure the event along the route and at the venue. The public was asked to avoid coming by private car and to use public transportation and the Waze app instead.

From 6:30 a.m., a long list of streets in Tel Aviv was closed to traffic, including parts of Rokach Boulevard, Hayarkon Street, Herbert Samuel, Kaufman, Nahum Goldmann, Eilat, Eliyahu, Derech Shlomo, Mappo, Frishman, Trumpeldor, Ness Ziona, Geula, Nehemiah and the Carmelit Street area. The closures cover both northbound and southbound sections near the beachfront and central city.

The march in Jerusalem was held last week, marking its 24th year under the slogan “Demanding Change.” It did not use its usual downtown route, instead setting out from Sacher Park to the Rose Garden opposite the Knesset, where pride flags were raised for the first time. The kickoff was led by Omer Ohana, partner of Maj. Sagi Golan, who was killed in the battle for Be’eri on October 7.

Among the speakers were opposition leader Yair Lapid, MK Naama Lazimi, deputy mayors Yossi Havilio and Adir Schwarz, Histadrut representative Michal Rozin, Dutch Ambassador Marriet Schuurman, EU Ambassador Michael Mann and Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum. Amir Peretz, CEO of the Open House for Pride and Tolerance in Jerusalem, said the event was “a holiday for the community” and said there were about 430 acts of violence in 2025, while Lapid promised equal rights legislation within the first 100 days of the next government.