Is Israel Becoming A Gay Porn Powerhouse?

Image by Haaretz

By Daniel J. Solomon May 17, 2017

Tel Aviv has been a happening LGBT scene for decades, but now Israel is becoming a destination for the gay porn industry.

“I’m not competing with foreign sites that show guys with abs who look like a million bucks,” a filmmaker identified as Shay told Haaretz. “With me, everything is homey; my films are amateurish.”

According to Haaretz, the gay porn industry has a boutique quality – with most of the content being made by about 10 actors, even as the sites draw huge traffic.

Actor wages can run from 1,000 to 2,000 shekels among the small outlets that produce most of the content. That’s about $280 to $560 a day – a good deal more than the average pay in Israel.

But not everyone is happy about the porn industry’s growth.

Prof. Esther Herzog, chairwoman of the Movement for Equal Representation of Women, said the industry is inherently harmful, whether it’s being produced by gay or straight people.

“Pornography, prostitution and trafficking in women are three sides of the same phenomenon,” she told the newspaper. “Ultimately, we’re talking about buying sex.”

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO