Shin Bet director David Zini recently ordered the cancellation of a planned Pride Month event within the security agency and blocked a series of related initiatives, effectively shutting down the organization’s LGBTQ employee group, Channel 12 reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, organizers were informed at an advanced stage of preparations that the event would not be approved. Sources familiar with the matter told the network that the directive came from high up in the Shin Bet’s chain of command, allegedly from Zini, with no clear explanation for the decision.

Channel 12 said the requests to display Pride-themed banners and screensavers, hang Pride flags at the event venue, produce event stickers and distribute LGBTQ-related content through the Shin Bet systems were all denied.

The report also claimed that the agency’s human resources department was instructed to transfer the LGBTQ group’s budget into the Shin Bet’s general budget, leaving it with no dedicated funding, effectively shutting down the group.

The move reportedly sparked criticism among some Shin Bet employees and LGBTQ rights advocates, who described it as a departure from the values of equality and inclusion that the agency has promoted in recent years.

The report noted that the purported move to cut the group’s funding sets the Shin Bet apart from other security and political bodies in Israel. Both the Mossad and the Israel Police have active groups for their LGBTQ staff, and the Knesset hosts an, albeit informal, LGBTQ caucus, headed by Yesh Atid MK Yorai Lahav-Hertzanu.

The Shin Bet declined to comment on the report, according to Channel 12.

Israel’s main LGBTQ group, Aguda, said it was “shocked” by the report and demanded........

© The Times of Israel