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Apple Inc. on Saturday issued a statement supporting an Israeli campaign against recently pbaded legislation in the Knesset, which excludes gay men from a law expanding surrogacy rights.
"One of Israel's greatest gifts is the creativity, diversity and talent of all its inhabitants," said Apple, adding that "unfortunately, recent laws pbaded by the Knesset undermine these values. Apple will always maintain its values of fairness, dignity and mutual respect, and we are with all our employees in search of equality before the law. "
Thousands of people are expected to hit Sunday to protest discrimination against LGBT people in Israel in general, and the exclusion of gay men from the surrogacy law was pbaded last week. Events are scheduled across the country; the main one will be a rally at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv at 8:30 pm.
The call to strike and the protests were triggered by the amendment to the surrogacy law and the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – claiming Monday that he supports the mothers carriers for single fathers – before voting Wednesday against.
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But it seems that the protest, which has increased in recent days, goes well beyond the opposition to a specific law, touches on the violation of the rights of LGBT people in many areas.
Thursday, the day after the adoption of the law, dozens of large corporations and the main trade union federation of Israel announced that they would participate in the strike.
Two leading technology companies, Mellanox and Microsoft Israel, promised to help their employees fund surrogacy. The two companies promised to give 60,000 shekels ($ 16,400) to any employee seeking to create a family through surrogacy.
"My heart is with every employee in their desire to create a family," said Assaf Rappaport, CEO of the Microsoft Research and Development Center in Israel, who led the movement.
Dozens of other companies agreed to give their employees the day off Sunday to protest.
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