“On August 1, 2009, a masked man walked into the Bar Noar, a small meeting place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers, and opened fire, killing two. The shooting rattled a community that had come to see itself as fully integrated and immune to such hate – at least in Tel Aviv.

The incident was seen as an attack on the community as a whole and became a defining moment in the Israeli LGBT community, a warning that its place in society was not as safe as many believed.

Now, on the eve of Tel Aviv Pride, new revelations this week may challenge that narrative. Three suspects were arrested on Wednesday and a fourth, who is allegedly an activist in the LGBT community, was arrested on Thursday. Police now say they are ruling out the possibility of a hate crime and that the motivation instead appears to be personal. It is a shocking twist that potentially undermines the symbolism that the Israeli LGBT community has given the tragedy.”

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