ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the homonational politics, meaning the assemblage of sexuality and citizenship as an analytic category stemming from the intertwining of state, capitalism and sexuality. It refers to the gendered politics of absence as a reification of lesbian, bisexual and transgender exclusion, experienced by activists as a divestment of their power and voice. The creation of a strong, positive and glamorous visibility through the renovated Gay-Center reflected well on the LGBT community and improved the LGBT position and status in Tel Aviv. Homonationalism has enabled the dispossession of the activist's access to leadership positions and political presence as influential LGBT activists. The derivative concept of republican citizenship is a process of participation in active debate and decision-making processes specifically linking military service and the state. Israel is a militaristic society in which masculinity plays a focal role in the construction of identities that reproduce participation in and belonging to the state.
