Gay couple holding hands receive tirade of homophobic abuse in Jerusalem

A video of a gay couple receiving a tirade of homophobic abuse has gone viral in Israel this week.

Ynet news secretly filmed Shai and Ophir holding hands while walking through the streets of Jerusalem.

The two men, dressed in tank tops and wearing sunglasses, passed by people who looked on with a mixture of disbelief, disgust, and anger.

Whilst some people were confused to see a gay couple in public, including one person who shouted “What’s going on over there?”, most of the responses were openly abusive.

One man, using profanities, called the couple "garbage". 

Several people in the video could be heard swearing at the men, which can be watched below.

Warning: The clip includes numerous incidents of foul and abusive language.

The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube and comes after a recent knife attack targeted Israel’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

On 30 July, six people were stabbed at a Jerusalem Gay Pride march, including 16-year-old Shira Banki, who later died from her injuries in hospital.

The alleged perpetrator, Yshai Schlissel, had been released from prison just three weeks prior to the stabbings, after having served a lengthy prison sentence for a 2005 attack on the same march in Jerusalem that wounded several people.

The attack has negatively impacted Israel’s international image as being a gay-friendly country.