A censored edition of Mr. Feili’s first book of poetry was published in Iran when he was 19. About half a dozen subsequent works have been published abroad, mostly in Persian.

His new milieu is the bustling, easygoing Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv, a favorite gay destination.

He lives on Lilienblum Street, which is lined with hip bars, and he has been taken under the wing of the city’s gay community. He has not sought out Israeli Jews of Iranian descent.

His fascination with Israel began as a young man, he said, after watching movies about the Holocaust. He then began reading the Torah, for its cultural and literary value. Present-day Israel, he said, “is exactly as I expected and even better and more beautiful.” But, he said, “I have no special connection with Judaism and do not want one, nor with any other religion.”

The Israel Project, a pro-Israel advocacy group, organized this week’s news conference with Mr. Feili, promoting his story as an example of Israel’s openness in contrast to its Middle East neighbors.

Israel has sometimes been accused of “pinkwashing,” or portraying itself as a progressive hub of tolerance, particularly toward gays, to detract attention from the government’s policies toward Palestinians. At Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s annual meeting with the international press this year, there was a performance by the Israeli transgender pop singer Dana International, who appealed to reporters to go easy on Israel.

Mr. Feili said that he was aware that not all Israelis were so tolerant, and that a 16-year-old Jewish girl, Shira Banki, was fatally stabbed at a gay pride march in Jerusalem last year. But he noted that many countries of the world were now grappling with extremism.