British leaders would encourage the criminalization and punishment of sexual acts that they determined were either unnatural, immoral, or both. Before the intervention of Britain and in the beginning of their intervention, the Palestinian population knew that acts of homosexuality in regards to both genders existed in their society. They deemed these acts as unnatural to the norm but not as immoral to way of life. After British intervention, the population would begin to criminalize these acts and this criminalization would last into the development of the Israeli State in 1948. The newly formed government of Israel continued in British tradition with enforcing their laws regarding the criminalization of homosexual relationships as well as other acts that the government deemed immoral or unnatural which included acts of gender fluidity. In the 1950s, an Israeli woman by the name of Rina Natan was arrested for cross dressing, this entailed that she was wearing female clothes while being of biological male gender. The arrest was made on terms of her breaking public order. Later, the government had concluded that they could not charge her for wearing women's clothing and ultimately released her. After her arrest, she became very vocal in Israel's political sphere in regards to gender and transgender rights, even becoming known as Israel's first transgender rights activist. Specifically, she was protesting the Israeli government's policies and laws that denied her rights to treatment and denied her the appropriate resources to transition between the male to female gender. Denying her specifically on her gender reassignment surgery was Attorney General Haim Cohn who in 1954 was persistent in making sure that Natan would not receive her surgery. Following this, two short years later, Natan severed the penis that she was born with herself. After this, Israeli hospitals were forced to treat her and Rina Natan became Israel's first transgender woman. After her transition, Rina Natan was a woman by gender and in society but the Israeli government never changed the name and gender on her passport, which remained under her birth given male name. Natan would pave the way for gender and transgender rights in Israel. She gave transgender rights a sphere of influence in activism and her actions and story would lead the Israeli government to legally recognize and permit sex reassignment later in 1986. 1960s In 1960, Rina Ben-Menahem self-published her first book, "הדווקאים", describing the homosexual and lesbian scene