Caitlyn Jenner is to be crowned a champion of Israel and LGBTQ rights at an award ceremony.

The Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is to receive the "Champion of Israel and LGBTQ Rights Award" at the Sixth Annual World Values Network Champions of Jewish Values Awards.

The World Values Network said it was “honoured” to announce that she would attend the awards in March.

A press release announcing her as a winner said: “Having already summited the spheres of athletics and entertainment, Caitlyn became one of the foremost exponents of LGBTQ rights in the world today and has become a cultural icon.

“Widely considered the most famous openly transgender woman on earth, she is also a sincere supporter of the State of Israel, which has always been a world leader in securing the rights and wellbeing of people of all identities.”

It praised her support of Israel “in a region where discrimination, persecution, and even execution are daily realities for LGBTQ communities and individuals,

“Israel’s message of liberty and tolerance must be desperately heeded.

“For years, Israel’s military has served as a model for transgender soldiers to serve.”

Israel became one of the first countries to protect the rights of transgender soldiers, in 1993.

Today, it is one of only eighteen nations whose armies allow transgender individuals to serve.