Vol. 74/No. 44      November 22, 2010

Citizens of Israel who do not adhere to any religion, as well as those seeking to marry someone from a different religion, could only get married outside Israel and then have the marriage recognized by the state on their return.

The law permitting civil marriages was first approved in March, but could not be implemented until the fee for the civil marriage certificate was set November 3. It applies to some 60,000 people defined as “non-denomination” Israelis.

The law was passed on the initiative of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home), a nationalist party led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. A big base of support for the party is Russian immigrants.

Because rabbinical courts often say that Russian immigrants are not Jewish according to orthodox Jewish rules, many are unable to legally marry. More than one million Russians have immigrated to Israel since 1989.

The debate over civil marriage has raged in Israel for decades. Attempts to change the law in the 1950s failed. Opponents worried that allowing civil unions would dilute the Jewish character of the Israeli state. “One out of three Jewish men in the U.S. wed Christian women,” said the deputy minister of religious affairs at the time. “This must not be permitted to happen in Israel.”

Some supporters of civil marriage say the law does not go far enough. They say it gives Israeli religious courts the power to reject statements by applicants that they are not a member of a religious group, thus making them ineligible for a civil marriage certificate.

The member of parliament who introduced the law said it’s a first step and that he would like to see civil union “extended to any person who desires it, not just those without an officially defined religion.”  
 
 
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