Thousands of demonstrators today gathered for a gay rally in Jerusalem in defiance of protests by religious leaders who had deemed the event "sinful".

The controversial event had led to police raising the level of alert to its highest, amidst fears of attacks from orthodox protesters as well as Palestinian militants seeking revenge for a deadly military strike in Gaza that killed 19.

The security concerns led to organisers calling off a planned larger-scale Gay Pride march across the city, settling instead for a smaller rally behind closed doors at a university sports stadium.

But despite the event being scaled down, authorities remained fearful of clashes, deploying around 3,000 police along the streets of central Jerusalem in preparation for anticipated disturbances.

Security forces remained on high alert across the country and early in the day, a police surveillance balloon could be seen hovering over the area of the stadium, and helicopters patrolled over Jerusalem’s skies as officer sealed off a number of streets.

But despite some minor clashes early in the day, when far-right protesters carrying knives and batons clashed briefly with activists who tried to stage a march - resulting in five arrests - the event passed largely without conflict.

Around 4,000 attendees – far fewer than the expected 5,000-7,000 – rallied together at Hebrew University’s Givat Ram stadium, in a colourful display of gay pride, complete with live music and dancing.

In keeping with the scaled-down nature of the celebrations, participants were mostly dressed in regular day clothes, rather than the flamboyant costumes worn in gay pride events in the more permissive city of Tel Aviv.

There was nonetheless, the occasional display of unusual dress, including a man wearing the black hat and jacket usually worn by Orthodox Jews, but with a magenta-coloured taffeta skirt and striped tights.

"The Holy City belongs to everyone," shouted Elena Canetti, a gay-rights activist. "Why in Jerusalem? Because this is my city, Israel’s capital and because everyone’s rights, whatever their sexual, religious or national tendencies are, should be respected."

Decorating the scene were the rainbow-coloured gay flag and large banners, reading such proclamations as "Love without frontiers", "Jerusalem - Free and proud!" and "There are different ways to be a Jew".

Also joining in the celebrations were members of youth organisations and liberal MPs, keen to make their voice heard amidst an outcry from Orthodox figures, who had denounced the event.

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