Comment

Israeli president backs same-sex marriage

2
CuriousLurker12/05/2013 9:48:21 am PST

I was just reading an article over at Slate the other day that asserted Israel won’t legalize gay marriage any time soon for a host of very complicated religious & political reasons, but that there might be a chance for compromise on civil unions for heterosexual couples (which is currently not allowed either—something I wasn’t previously aware of).

Israel Won’t Legalize Gay Marriage. Here’s Why.

Enter the marriage conundrum. In Israel, all valid marriages conducted abroad are recognized by the state, and foreign same-sex marriages are recorded for statistical purposes. That means a gay couple that weds in, say, the Netherlands remains wed in Israel. But that doesn’t mean a gay couple in Tel Aviv can walk down to city hall and procure a marriage license. Marriage is an exclusively religious institution in Israel, with separate religious authorities for Jews and Muslims, Christians and Druze. For Israeli Jews, marriage policy is dictated by the Chief Rabbinate, which is under the exclusive control of the Orthodox—and firmly opposed to gay marriage. Since the country has no civil marriage, gay couples seeking to marry within the borders of Israel are out of luck (as are any Jewish Israelis seeking a non-Orthodox marriage ceremony).

This arrangement—whereby marriage is in the control of the Orthodox rabbinate—is part of what Israelis call the status quo: an understanding between secular and religious Jews regarding the balance between religion and state. The status quo affects not only marriage, but also the education system, family law, supervision of kosher restaurants, and the opening of shops and public transportation on shabbat. […]

Since I’m not Jewish, have never been to Israel, and don’t know much about its laws & politics, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the article, but I assume it would be easy enough to fact check. Or someone here will correct things. ;)