Israel

We acknowledge that the inclusion of Israel may seem counterintuitive to many, due to the ongoing Israeli-Palestine Conflict and in particular the Gaza war that started in 2023. As a reminder, the goal of this Wiki is to provide research and information to allow all trans people to find safer places and provide enough information so that you as an individual trans person can identify if a particular destination is safe for you specifically. In the case of Israel, even with the war, trans Jews who may not find safety in other countries due to a variety of religious and racial factors may find it safer in Israel than the United States at the present time. To ascertain if that includes you, please read on.

Israel is a comparatively LGBTQ+-friendly country located in the Middle East, with legal protections for trans people.

Why Israel?

• Legal gender recognition:
  • ID changes are allowed on Teudat Zehut and other documents such as passports with a doctor’s note.
• Anti-discrimination laws:
  • Anti-discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and existing hate crime and slander laws.
• Public healthcare:
  • Surgery, HRT/GAHT, mental healthcare, and other gender affirming medical care is covered under public health insurance. Most care is also available inside the country.
    • Minors can also access puberty blockers and other non-surgical care.
• LGBTQ+ rights and community:
  • Tel Aviv has a large queer community and is actually occasionally referred to as the gay/LGBTQ capital of the Middle East, other cities such as Haifa and Eilat are also viable.
    • There are very well-known LGBTQ celebrities and advocates in the country such as Dana International (Sharon Cohen) and Netta Barzilai who have created a positive image for the community in many parts of the country.
  • The Israeli military has allowed transgender soldiers to serve since the 90s.
  • Same-sex marriages performed overseas as recognized in Israel, and same-sex adoptions are allowed.
  • Secular LGBTQ lifestyles are not unheard throughout the country, many people in the country are irreligious or non-practicing, especially in cities like Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Eilat, and even certain parts of Jerusalem.
• Immigration pathways:
  • Aliyah and A-1 (א-1) visa under Law of Return.
    • Immigration under Law of Return is reportedly comparatively quick if you have all documents already available.
    • A-1 visa allows someone eligible under Law of Return to live and work in Israel without taking up citizenship.
    • Paid higher education, healthcare subsidies, absorption basket (monies), free Hebrew classes, a free Aliyah flight to the country, and other government benefits for new Olim.
  • Marriage to an Israeli.
  • Work visas
  • Investor visas
  • Citizenship by descent (parent is Israeli)
• If you’re Jewish and a younger individual (<Mid 30s), you can also participate in a Taglit/Birthright trip to experience the country before making a decision to emigrate. The Taglit/Birthright program is completely free, all expenses for travel, lodging, and activities are included.
• Dual citizenship with the USA is recognized if you come to Israel and take up citizenship by Aliyah.

Why not Israel?

• Marriage laws are managed by Rabbinical courts inside the country. You cannot enter a same-sex/gender marriage from inside the country, albeit marriages performed overseas are recognized.
• Military service may be required for younger olim (<26 years old).
• Passport issuance requires a time of residence inside the country for a full validity passport.
• It is comparatively difficult to emigrate to the country if you were not born a Jew, as the only alternative to get in under Law of Return is by a recognized conversion. This can include recognized Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements. For trans people, the Reform movement is most accommodating.
• Religious status for converts after Aliyah is at times unclear depending on the movement you converted under.
• The country is under threat by Iran and other neighbors.
• Israel is a party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is in current conflict with Palestinians in Gaza.
  • There are various perspectives on this conflict internally, some individuals consider this conflict a genocide against Palestinians.
  • Others consider it a justified act of self-defense due to the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, with a proportionate, or perhaps disproportionate response.
  • Some people believe Israel should not exist at all, while others believe that Palestine should not exist at all.
• The general opinion of very religious Israeli Jews, Arabs (Muslim or Christian), and Palestinians of trans and non-binary people is typically negative. However, it is usually easy to avoid overtly religious communities.
• No legal recognition of non-binary identities and many single sex/gender spaces, in particular in religious spaces.
• No tax totalization treaty with the United States.
• You are legally classified by your religious group, e.g. Muslim, Jewish, Christian. Marriage and personal status laws are dictated by your legal religious classification.

Political Situation for Trans People

• The current government under Benjamin Netanyahu (led by Likud) is pro-LGBTQ due to Netanyahu’s influence.
• Israel is a multi-racial country due to Jews coming from all over the world, and being of color while being trans is generally not an issue. Especially in certain cities like Haifa and Jerusalem, the population also isn’t even entirely/mostly Jewish, and there is a large arab christian/muslim presence.
• The most recent opposition government led by Benny Gantz (National Unity) is also pro-LGBTQ.
• Palestinians who are LGBTQ regularly take up asylum in Israel due to non-acceptance in Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank).

Access to Trans Healthcare

• Available through public health insurance providers, many gender affirming procedures, including FFS and bottom surgery, are available in Tel Aviv. Hormone replacement and mental healthcare are also available throughout the country.

Immigration Policy

US citizens need a visa to move to Israel.

The most common method of emigrating to Israel, by far, is by Law of Return (A-1 or א-1 visa), which allows Jews by birth (defined as any Jewish parent or grandparent) who haven’t taken up another religion, and Jews who have become Jews by conversion, to emigrate to the country. This can be facilitated by working through the Jewish Agency for Israel or Nefesh B’Nefesh. These Jews are called olim (singular oleh/olah). A new oleh/olah can take up citizenship on arrival or defer that decision for years on end.

• https://jewishagency.org
• https://nbn.org.il

To immigrate under Law of Return as a US Citizen, you will generally need the following documents, all with an apostille. You’ll also need to meet with an Aliyah Shaliach (available in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Davie (Florida), Toronto (Ontario, Canada), London (UK), or within Israel). The date of the apostille generally shouldn’t matter except for the background check (noted below). Translations are not needed for any documents in English, Hebrew, or Arabic.

• Birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or proof of birth abroad
• Marriage and divorce certificates, or a personal status affidavit (if never married, the affidavit does not require apostille)
• Any name change orders
• FBI background check
  • You can order this from the DOJ, have fingerprints taken at the Post Office, and then use a channeling company or mail/hand deliver the background check to the State Department in Washington DC for apostille.
    • https://www.edo.cjis.gov/#/
      • This doesn’t seem to work well with certain email domains.
    • https://ips.usps.com/IdentityCapture/ (REAL ID does not seem to be required for this at present)
    • https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/replace-certify-docs/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html
  • The background check cannot be more than 6 months old on the day you arrive in Israel.
  • You should request a background check that displays your SSN.

You’ll also need (no apostille):

• A letter from a rabbi from a synagogue in North America attesting to your Judaism and/or Jewish heritage. The rabbi must be affiliated with a known denomination like reform/conservative/orthodox/hasidic. Some forms of reconstructionist may also be ok. This letter cannot be more than a year old.
  • If you’re not a convert, documents such as a Bar/Bat/Bnai Mitzvah certificate may be useful for proving this for a rabbi, or a Ketubah from a marriage of your own or that of your parents/grandparents.
• A medical self-attestation.
• A privacy form.
• An entry/exit form for any entries or exits to Israel in the last 7 years.
• Your US passport, and passports for any other citizenship you possess, as well as expired passports. You’ll basically need to provide any passports you’ve ever held in your possession that were IN FACT (e.g. actually ever) valid at any point within the last seven year window. In other words, if you changed your name or gender marker, and the previous passport had an original expiry date within the 7 year window, but you replaced it before the window came about, you probably don’t need to provide it, but it probably doesn’t hurt to have it.

It is also possible to emigrate to the country by marrying an Israeli or someone eligible under Law of Return, by investment in a business, or by obtaining a work visa after obtaining employment (no religious test required). Naturalization is possible under all of these paths as well, albeit proof of Hebrew or Arabic proficiency may be required for some of them. You can review requirements for this by looking at visa requirements for Israel at the Israeli embassy.

Medical Inadmissibility

A medical self-declaration is required for new olim, inadmissibility regulations are unclear and require more research, but NBN claims the Israeli government does not discriminate on this matter. However, it may take time to get medical coverage on arrival without coordination during the Aliyah process.

The form asks about psychological (Gender Dysphoria) and neurological (ADHD/Autism/etc) conditions separately, answer accordingly. You may be able to omit answers if you aren’t looking for healthcare services in Israel.

Permanent Residency/Citizenship

Can be obtained by performing Aliyah, or by naturalization. Naturalization requires renouncing your current citizenship and studying the Hebrew language.

LGBTQ+ Friendly Cities

What are potentially good places to live in?

• Tel Aviv
• Haifa
• Eilat
• Jerusalem

Top Trans-Friendly Cities

• Tel Aviv

Community & Support Resources

National Organizations

• See here for an extensive list: https://lgbtolim.org/lgbt-organizations/

Cost of Living

• The cost of living in Israel is varied.
• Rent is as high as Seattle or Boston in Tel Aviv, or comparatively very low in the occupied West Bank/Palestine and other remote areas. Communal living is also available outside cities in communities known as Kibbutzim.
• Public transport is readily available and inexpensive.
• Healthcare is publicly funded and inexpensive.
• Grocery prices are relatively reasonable.
• Education is subsidized and inexpensive.

Housing Access & Cost

• Things are rather expensive in major cities and comparable to the cost of living in major American cities there.
• You may be able to find free or relatively cheap housing on a Kibbutz (commune) or by volunteering in the military or participating in sherut leumi (national service).

Law Enforcement ("How bad are the cops?")

• Generally no issues outside religious areas, there is also minimal internally committed crime (property or violent) inside the country due to a large and consistent military presence in the country, including inside cities. This exists for security purposes given the hostilities between Israel and other countries as well as the Palestinian population.

Censorship & Digital Privacy

• None

Ease of Travel to Other Countries

• Land travel to Jordan and Egypt is possible, but relations are strained. Israeli passports are accepted in many countries, but are generally not accepted in much of the Muslim/Arab world.

Animal Policies

• Israel is pet friendly, albeit it’s worth noting the country has a stray cat problem.
• Nefesh B’ Nefesh has details on this.
  • https://www.nbn.org.il/making-aliyah/the-aliyah-process/pets-and-aliyah/making-aliyah-with-pets/

Culture and Integration

Israel is a Jewish state that uses western common law for everything except family/marriage law. It is also a very nationalist and yet highly democratic state with a strong culture of public service due to forced military conscription for most citizens, men and women (albeit many religious Jews get out of it). The majority of the population is Jewish (of diverse racial and national backgrounds across the globe), albeit not necessarily religiously. This creates a sense of pride in the country, and a strong feeling of shared kinship and mutual respect/identity amongst most of the Jews in the country. This also makes Israel feel rather diverse, despite everyone having a common ethnic identity given the Jewish identity of most inhabitants. Furthermore, even in liberal communities that may have sympathy for Palestinian lives and Palestinian rights to sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza, due to this, there is very strong support for Israeli military throughout the country, as Israelis value their fellow citizens lives extremely highly.

If you are below the age of 27 when you make Aliyah, it is suggested that you try to serve in the Israeli military if you are fit to do so, even if it isn’t mandatory for you. The military is reportedly accommodating to transgender individuals, and serving will likely help you to integrate. Sherut Leumi (National Service) in lieu of military service is also available for younger olim/immigrants and conscientious objectors.

Kosher food and vegetarian food are plentiful. You can find non-kosher food (even bacon) as well but this is more common in Arab and Russian Jewish communities. Some common street foods include hummus/pita, falafel, shawarma, shakshuka, sabich, bourekas, and jerusalem bagels. You can also find other cuisines throughout the country (pretty much anything if you look hard enough), as there are Jews and other immigrants from all over the world in the country.

The Official Language is Hebrew, but you can definitely get around with just English, albeit you might have bureaucratic and professional challenges. It is thus highly suggested to learn Hebrew, and classes are free for new immigrants via an Ulpan (intensive classes). There are also a couple of Arab communities as well within the 1967 borders that have a Lingua Franca of Arabic, as well of some Russian Jewish communities where the Lingua Franca is Russian.

White collar work weeks are from Sunday-Thursday typically due to Shabbat on Friday evening into Saturday. Retail businesses aren’t necessarily closed on Shabbat, but many do close, especially in religious areas. It is also very common for friends and family to gather on Shabbat (Friday evenings in particular).

Israelis are generally outgoing and very brash people. What might be considered rude in other cultures may be just a sign of kinship in Israel.

Bomb shelters are common in many buildings due to the intermittent threat of rocket fire and suicide bombers from surrounding countries and Palestinian militants/terrorists. The country has an “Iron Dome” missile defense system that is commonly used to repel rocket attacks, with a very high success rate. In addition, it is not uncommon to see Israeli soldiers in uniform on streets, armed with automatic weapons and handguns. This generally makes the country relatively safe for its inhabitants and helps to prevent random non-political property and violent crime .

You’ll also find integrated and non-integrated Arab communities in Israel, who practice Christianity and Islam and may use Arabic as their day to day language. These communities are not Palestinian, however, and are largely of other persuasions of Arab descent.

Outside of cities, there are also very unique, typically agrarian communities known as Kibbutzim. These are collectivist communities where there is a level of shared ownership and destiny amongst their members/inhabitants. While most Kibbutzim have become more individualistic and capitalist in recent decades, some of them still follow a very successful micro-communist model, and continue to be successful doing so. The Kibbutz lifestyle may actually be idyllic or suitable for many in the trans community as it can provide a steady/simple lifestyle and way of life.