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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. "
Apple employs a thousand people in its R & D center in Israel, opened in 2011. Openly homobadual CEO Tim Cook spoke about LGBT rights.
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 protests were triggered by the amendment to the surrogacy law and the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – saying 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.
IBM issued a statement Friday on the law, stating: "No one should be denied one of the most basic human rights – the right to start a family – to be what they are. It is. We support IBM who wish to stand in solidarity with the LGBT community in defense of legislation that includes ALL. "
Dozens of other companies agreed to give their employees the day off Sunday to protest.
The reaction suggests that the surrogacy law could lead to the first instance since 2011, when Israelis took to the streets to protest the cost of living, in which a protest movement in Israel receives support of the business world. companies.
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