Ministers reject two bills seeking to allow civil marriage

[Israeli]

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Lavie added: “The law will allow everyone the freedom of choice between the civil track and the religious track, and allow full equal rights between couples who choose a civil union and those couples who choose the religious channel, also in terms of law and justice. In the present situation, the State of Israel is completely ignoring the distress of thousands and men and women. Do we really want to continue to encourage them to get married abroad? ... It is simply an inappropriate situation which harms the values of equality.”

The Israel Democracy Institute called on the ministerial committee at the end of last week to support Lavie’s bill: “This proposal is similar to the proposal prepared in the past by the institute, which asks to preserve the balance between the Jewishness of the state and upholding the equal rights for every citizen [man and woman] to live in an established union.”

Allowing civil unions would enable over 300,000 people in Israel who are unable to be married now by the Rabbinate – such as same-sex couples and others who are not interested in marriage under religious auspices and today are forced to go overseas to conduct the process there – to feel part of Israeli society, said the Israel Democracy Institute. It is the best compromise available at the moment.

“We must recognize the problem and not hide our heads in the sand,” said a spokesperson for the institute.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.664513