Thousands of gay men, lesbians and civil rights supporters have joined in a controversial gay pride rally at the Hebrew University stadium in Jerusalem despite attempts by religious leaders to ban it.

|PIC1|The stadium rally followed the cancellation of the planned gay pride march through the city after authorities requested that the organisers scale back the gathering in light of the new security situation.

Police had originally planned to distribute 9,000 of its officers along the march route to protect marchers but were forced to divert forces after Palestine threatened strikes in Israel in retaliation for its shelling in Gaza earlier in the week which left 18 Palestinian civilians dead.

Religious groups in the city were extremely outspoken in their criticism against the parade, with a majority saying that such a public display of homosexuality in the holy city would have been offensive to the large religious contingent who oppose such actions.

The cancelled parade saw Jews, Christians and Muslims unite in opposition to the event, while hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews vented their disapproval in clashes with police.

The Vatican called for it to be scrapped for fear of offending "the sensibilities of religious communities".

The public outrage in the city and internationally, as well as the request from local police, prompted the organisers on Thursday to cancel the public rally and hold an equivalent event privately inside the closed stadium.

Leading Muslims in the country had declared that homosexuality was a crime against its laws and demanded that police punish those involved in the parade.

In addition, Christian evangelical groups in Jerusalem condemned the parade as "provocative" and called for the public nature of the event to be altered.

However, despite these protests, the Israeli military is banned from discriminating against gays simply on the fact of their sexuality.

There were no reports of violence during the four-hour event attended by 4,000 gay men and lesbians, although around 30 gay protesters who tried to march illegally through the city where arrested by Israeli police.