Israel has sold itself internationally as a gay Mecca. (Here, here, and here, for instance.) This freedom is regularly cited by advocates for Israel in the west, making stark comparisons to Muslim societies that repress gays. Well hereâs a new spin on that claim: reports that Israeli intelligence pried into Palestiniansâ phone calls and internet activity so as to identify and blackmail Palestinian gays and turn them into informants against other Palestinians.