JERUSALEM (AP) — Shirtless Israeli men, colorfully dressed drag queens and others partied Friday through central Tel Aviv as tens of thousands of people took part in the city's annual gay pride parade, the largest event of its kind in the Middle East.

An ad placed in the New York Times on Monday praising Israel's strong record of gay rights in the Middle East has sparked an online debate with critics of the ad calling the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians into question.

Protestors call for destruction of Israel

Collection of stories on the big story of the week.

It’s been a successful week in Washington for U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch.

A skinny little pine tree was planted at Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Park Friday morning in a symbol of friendship between two countries.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Payam Feili fled his native Iran last year because of the persecution he faced over his sexuality. Now, the gay poet has made a years-long dream come true — he is visiting Israel, Iran's archenemy and a country known for its tolerance toward gays.

What started as a small parade over 15 years ago this past weekend drew more than 100,000 people — the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade in Israel.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The body of an Israeli transgender woman who committed suicide will be cremated despite her ultra-Orthodox family's wishes, Israel's Supreme Court ruled in documents obtained Wednesday.

JERUSALEM -- Israel has jailed a Jewish extremist for six months without charges or trial, expanding a crackdown against militant Jews and deploying a contentious measure typically used for Palestinians suspected of staging attacks.

(WB) The Israeli Knesset in late July approved a preliminary bill that would criminalize so-called conversion therapy practices.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it will begin enlisting soldiers who are HIV-positive, in a policy shift putting the country at the forefront of military inclusivity toward people with the virus that causes AIDS.

Tributes continue to pour in for departed Israel President & Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who passed on Wednesday. He was 93.

Israel’s cultural and financial capital has unveiled a memorial honoring gays and lesbians persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.

Following a recent vote by the Presbyterian Church to divest in three U.S. companies supplying Israel with equipment used in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, Benjamin Netanyahu the Israeli Prime Minister shot back with an invitation to those Presbyterian organizations. He encouraged them to take a bus tour of Israel, the only democracy in the region, and then to continue on to Libya, Syria, and Iraq. In his remarks, he included two pieces of advice for the latter portion of the visit: an armor-plated bus and hiding the Christian identity of those onboard.

(CNN) -- [Breaking news update, published at 2:20 p.m. ET]

By Eliott C. McLaughlin, Oren Liebermann and Jason Hanna (CNN) -- Shira Banki, the high schooler fatally stabbed at a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, will be laid to rest Monday, a day after Israel's Prime Minister called on his people to "vigorously fight manifestations of hate."

How media covers Israel, the Middle East and the U.S. Presidential campaign was the topic of discussion at a program sponsored by The Israel Project.

JERUSALEM (AP) — An ultra-Orthodox Israeli who fatally stabbed a teenage girl at a Jerusalem gay pride parade has been indicted on a murder charge.