Pride parades in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba and Jerusalem have been delayed until the end of the summer due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, throughout June, known as Pride Month, there will be a series of virtual events on LGBTQ+ issues.
The Tel Aviv Pride Parade is one of the largest LGBTQ events in the world and the largest in the Middle East. Some 250,000 people were at the 2019 parade, where drag queens and kings performed and famed actor Neil Patrick Harris attended, serving as the international ambassador.
The Jerusalem Pride Parade has been a hub for danger for people who attend to celebrate their sexuality, as an ultra-Orthodox man, Yishai Schlissel, previously stabbed a girl to death during the event in 2016. He said that he was following God's will.
He had previously performed a similar attack in 2005 and was jailed up until three weeks prior to his next attack.
Pride in Jerusalem, ever since, has had far tighter security, with police monitoring the entry and exit of every attendee and checking the bags of those entering.
A crowd such as the one that these events attract would be cause for concern due to the coronavirus pandemic, as it would allow for the novel COVID-19 to spread among attendees.