Revelers take part in a gay pride parade in Tel Aviv, June 8, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Corinna Kern.

A large majority — 68% — of Israeli Jews believe same-sex couples should be granted equal legal rights to those of other couples, according to a new poll.

The monthly Peace Index — published by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University — also found that 63% of Israeli Jews did not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise that he would act soon to change the law to permit surrogacy for male couples. Netanyahu has been heavily criticized for his recent zigzag on the issue (he initially expressed support for surrogacy for gay fathers, but then yielded to pressure from his ultra-Orthodox governing coalition partners and voted against it).

Another sizable majority — 64% — of Israeli Jews back instituting civil marriage in the country.

Meanwhile, around 30,000 people are expected to take part in the Jerusalem Pride Parade on Thursday, Mako reported. Some 2,400 police officers will be deployed to secure the event.