International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, October 22, 2003

Jerusalem will be the site for the 2005 international gay and lesbian parade, potentially drawing hundreds of thousands of homosexuals to the Holy Land.

The event, which takes place once every five years, was in Rome in 2000 and gathered about half a million participants.

The decision to select Jerusalem for the next march was made earlier this month at an 'Interpride' conference in Montreal. Executive director of Jerusalem's Gay and Lesbian Center, Hagai El-Ad, lobbied on behalf of the city.

"An event of this magnitude has never occurred before anywhere in Israel," said Jerry Levinson, chairman of Jerusalem's Gay and Lesbian Center.

Jerusalem only started hosting local gay parades two years ago, drawing about 4,000 people each time and causing a stir among many religious city council members and city residents who consider the parade inappropriate.

In 2002, former Mayor Ehud Olmert withheld city funding for the event, but the city was later ordered by the Supreme Court to pay organizers for the annual event since the municipality contributes towards other city marches.

Officials from Jerusalem's Gay and Lesbian center said they plan to ask both the city and the Ministry of Tourism for funding for the international parade in August 2005.

A spokesman for Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski said Sunday that the issue of permits for such a parade was a police - and not a municipal - affair. Lupolianski was elected the city's first haredi mayor this summer.