Prostitution in Israel

The Legal SituationIsraeli law on prostitution is somewhat complicated. Prostitution itself is not outlawed, but soliciting is, and so are the operating of an establishment used for prostitution and living off the proceedings of prostitution.
As a result, there are several arrangements through which sex workers sell their services and there are "classes" of sex workers. Lowest on the ladder are the "street" or outdoor prostitutes, many of whom also perform the sexual act outside. Higher up are sex workers operating in hotels, especially in tourist hotels, and those operating through some of the escort services that are currently freely publicized with advertisements on the fringe of legality. So, also, are massage parlors, which became a euphemism for sexual services with allusions to "relaxation."
There have been several media articles describing another kind of arrangement, which is reportedly limited to students, professionals, and middle-class women "supported" by a few men who are regular and exclusive clients. According to the reports, these arrangements are usually temporary, particularly among students.
Several attempts to change the legal situation by licensing prostitutes, putting them under medical surveillance, and allowing them to keep places of business, have failed mainly due to the opposition of the religious parties in the parliament.
Pimping: The Exploitation of Female ProstitutesAlthough the pimps have traditionally belonged to the lower echelons of individual male criminals, they get most of the profits from prostitution. The women under their domination are kept in line by threats and the use of force.
There were several reports of specialists "hunting" young, runaway adolescents around the central urban bus stations, befriending them, and offering them shelter, and gradually moving them into prostitution. A more recent phenomenon in Israel involves importing women from the former USSR under forged papers and employing them in prostitution. This operation has many of the characteristics of organized crime, and the women are totally at the mercy of their "employers," as they are in a strange county with no valid documents.
Homosexual ProstitutionSeveral areas in the urban centers are known to be mainly or exclusively the territory of male prostitutes. Several reports have shown that, as with female prostitution, many of the sex workers are early or middle adolescents. Apparently, despite the fact that homosexuality is no longer a criminal offense, the police are checking constantly on these areas, and there were some reports of them keeping "pink lists" of male prostitutes. These reports were denied by the police authorities.
TransvestitesSeveral reports have revealed that some of the female sex workers are really male transvestites who are not gay and who do not cater to a gay clientele. These sex workers, some of whom have undergone hormonal treatment to grow breasts, pretend to their clients to be female prostitutes. They mainly provide fellatio; when asked to perform vaginal sex, they depend on their ability to stimulate the client to orgasm prior to penetration.