On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, as reports emerged of a terrorist invasion of southern Israel, Sagi Golan — a reservist in an elite counterterrorism unit — jumped out of bed, gave his fiancé a kiss, promised to return in at most a few days and headed to Kibbutz Be’eri.

But Golan never made it back. The 30-year-old, who was due to be married less than two weeks later, was killed in one of the fiercest battles of the Hamas attacks, as IDF soldiers and other security personnel squared off against some 340 terrorists.

Golan’s death — and the fact that his betrothed, Omer Ohana, was of the same sex — raised the issue of the military’s recognition of LGBTQ couples. Though the military generally afforded same-sex partners all the same rights and benefits as heterosexual partners, this was done on an unofficial basis, and since Ohana and Golan were not yet married, the situation was even less clear. Appalled by the lack of formal recognition of same-sex couples, Ohana set out to pass a law to make the practice official, and succeeded in doing so in November 2023.

But Ohana’s victory for the LGBTQ community — coming in the weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks, as the country was united in common purpose and grief — was relatively short-lived. Since that initial success, Israel’s LGBTQ community has seen its state funding slashed and the minister charged with representing it, Minister for Social Equality May Golan, distance herself from the cause, activists say.

“After Sagi died, I think the only thing left to do is make sure that we as a society and we as a country are worthy of his sacrifice. Because he fought for everybody. He didn’t ask the families he was rescuing in Be’eri whether they are right-wing or left-wing or whether they’re LGBTQ families or not. He just helped Jews,” Ohana told eJewishPhilanthropy recently.

The Aguda, Israel’s umbrella organization for the LGBTQ community, said the budget cuts have severely impacted LGBTQ programs in Israel, with funding for crucial initiatives slashed by as much as 75%. State funding for LGBTQ initiatives dropped from $28.4 million before the war to $12.4 million last year, Ohana said, and with Golan’s latest cuts, it’s down to $7.4 million. 

The six main national organizations that have been affected — which receive roughly 50% of their funding from the government — have had to lay off employees and are now struggling to survive on scarce philanthropic aid, he said. Programs supporting at-risk youth, the elderly and people living with HIV are being dismantled, while municipal LGBTQ centers, which are entirely state-funded, have closed altogether.

Over the past three years, the Ministry for Social Equality has managed two key programs supporting the LGBTQ community: one that provides local LGBTQ coordinators in municipalities and another that funds projects in collaboration with LGBTQ organizations. The flagship municipal program, which supported 100 municipalities, saw its budget slashed from $5.2 million to $1.2 million, resulting in the shutdown of vital services, including programs for LGBTQ seniors, people with disabilities and trans individuals, Aguda’s CEO, Yael Sinay Biblash, told eJP. The closure of the Trans Center in Tel Aviv left its 800 regular participants without support and forced it to lay off eight employees, she noted as an example.

Additionally, a separate program focused on marginalized communities was completely terminated, leaving gaps in support for Arab LGBTQ individuals, trans communities and peripheral regions.

The LGBTQ community, like all of Israeli society, has been deeply affected by the war, with LGBTQ reservists receiving legal and social assistance, as many LGBTQ households with children saw both parents called up for reserve duty and many households facing missile strikes, according to Sinay Biblash. Mental health issues have surged, particularly among marginalized groups, with a 40% increase in helpline calls and a rise in addiction-related cases, she said. The community’s resilience programs, essential during such crises, have been among the first to be cut, leaving many in need without crucial support.

“During such times, strengthening community resilience is crucial, unfortunately, these very programs have been the first to be cut,” she said, noting that she and other Aguda representatives are visiting the United States this month to meet potential donors in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, and are open to other meetings as well.

Ohana had hoped to mediate between LGBTQ organizations and Golan, believing that he was uniquely situated to serve as a bridge between the LGBTQ community and the conservative government, having grown up in a largely right-wing religious household.

He met with Golan to propose revising LGBTQ organizational activities to address her accusation that they were “left-wing organizations with left-wing activities” whose goal was to “undermine the government.” Insisting that the LGBTQ community includes the full political spectrum, Ohana planned to have LGBTQ groups officially adopt “Sagi’s values” — love of Israel, Zionism, patriotism and equality — which the mainstream LGBTQ organizations already considered to be “meaningful,” he said.

The groups accepted these changes, and Ohana submitted his proposal — dubbed “Sagi’s Way” —  to Golan’s office in late summer. 

Initial feedback from Golan and her ministry’s director-general, Avi Cohen, was positive, according to Ohana, and discussions began for a reconciliation ceremony. “Everything that [she] asked to be adjusted and corrected was. We did it all, and we sent May Golan a giant document specifying all of the changes. She actually liked it. I got a good response,” he said. “I had a talk with her, and it was looking like we were going toward a solution.”

However, on Aug. 12, the minister’s office suddenly halted the agreement over disagreements about its “purpose and content,” Ohana said.

Following this, he sought Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s support, who encouraged “further dialogue” but did nothing more, Ohana said. He ultimately went public through the media and by speaking in Knesset committees about the issue. Ohana said that he has had some success, noting that a portion of the funds for municipal programs were released following one committee hearing appearance — amounting to some $1.2 million.

Ohana highlighted that the 2025-2026 budget law mandates a budget for the LGBTQ community. “May Golan is just not working according to the law. When I approached other Knesset members to try and get them to help with this…I [found myself] stuck in a world that… is reinforced by the government, and that’s something I cannot [take] down on my own,” Ohana said. 

Golan and her ministry, which has recently been rocked by corruption allegations, did not respond to several requests by eJP for comment.

Among the affected initiatives is the Sagi Golan Memorial Program Ohana set up through the nonprofit Hoshen-Education and Change, which educates for tolerance, equality and leadership. Before the budget cut, the program had reached more than 50,000 students in Israel, Ohana said.

“It is a memorial activity in honor of Sagi,” said Ohana. “It also promoted leadership and encouraged young people to serve in the IDF in meaningful positions.”

LGBTQ organizations are now scrambling to keep their vital programs functional, Ohana said, trying to reach out to philanthropic groups for funding to fill in the gaps left by the state.

“You know what Israel is. We do whatever we can do in order to survive. And that’s part of surviving, because winning the war is one thing, but we still need to have a country after winning the war,” he said. “That’s what makes Israel strong. We take care of one another and the essence of the activities [of these organizations] is taking care of the most vulnerable segments of our communities and society. That just can’t be canceled. We need to do everything we can in order to preserve it.”