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From the Legal Trenches

From the Legal Trenches

1. Freedom of Marriage: In the last newsletter we reported on Hiddush’s legal breakthrough, which brought Israel closer than ever before to realizing freedom of marriage.


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69% of Jewish Israelis support women's candle lighting ceremonies at Kotel

69% of Jewish Israelis support women's candle lighting ceremonies at Kotel

69% of Jewish Israelis favor allowing women to light Chanukah candles at the Western Wall. This principled position also enjoys a high level of support among voters for the non-Haredi Coalition parties.

Hiddush's 2016 findings and data on marriage

Hiddush's 2016 findings and data on marriage

In the past year, Hiddush focused on the battle for marriage freedom in Israel as our leading cause, conducting a comprehensive series of surveys and studies that highlighted a clear trend: the Israeli Jewish public supports marriage freedom.

2016 Israel Religion and State Index - by party voters

2016 Israel Religion and State Index - by party voters

In Israel's Jewish community there is very broad opposition to the Government's actions in realm of religion & state and consistent support for all aspects of religious freedom and equality. This is the main conclusion of the Israel Religion & State Index.

2016 Religion & State Index: the Zionist Orthodox sector

2016 Religion & State Index: the Zionist Orthodox sector

Should Israeli actualize freedom of religion and conscience? - 95% of Zionist Orthodox moderates support this, as do 62% of mainstream Orthodox Zionists and 53% of Zionist ultra-Orthodox Israelis. The Index reflects the Government's total disregard for the public's will, but shows signs of hope within the moderate Zionist Orthodox community.

The 2016 Israel Religion & State Index

The 2016 Israel Religion & State Index

81% of Israeli Jews are dissatisfied with the Government's activities in the realm of religion & state; 66% support the Kotel compromise; 66% support freedom of marriage; 4 out of 5 secular Jews do not want to marry via the Orthodox Rabbinate.

The number of unmarried couples living together up by 29%

The number of unmarried couples living together up by 29%

Over the course of two years, the number of unmarried couples living together in Israel increased dramatically by 28%, or nearly 20,000 couples. During this same period, the number of Jewish couples who got married in Israel fell by 6.5%. These are the findings of Hiddush's analysis of Central Bureau of Statistics data.

74% of Israeli Jews would prefer egalitarian Jewish wedding ceremonies

74% of Israeli Jews would prefer egalitarian Jewish wedding ceremonies

Israeli Jews are tired of having this anti-egalitarian, irrelevant ritual forced upon them. The public wants a modernized Jewish ceremony.

Supreme Court rules on illegal writs of refusal from rabbinical court

Supreme Court rules on illegal writs of refusal from rabbinical court

The Supreme Court required the Attorney General's office to decide soon whether or not to file charges against the judges of the private, ultra-Orthodox rabbinical court who issued an excommunication notice to a Haredi resident Elad who are also suspected of blackmail, threatening private citizens, and obstruction of justice.

72% Jewish Israelis support public transportation on Shabbat

72% Jewish Israelis support public transportation on Shabbat

The gap between the public's support for public transportation on Shabbat and the cowardly, embarrassing intransigence of the Coalition is intolerable. MK Yael German (Yesh Atid): "A minority faction in the Knesset prevents such measures for social justice."

Support for same-sex marriage/civil unions - record high of 76%!

Support for same-sex marriage/civil unions - record high of 76%!

80% of the Jewish Israeli public supports giving married LGBTQ couples all or most of the same rights and privileges as heterosexual married couples. Hiddush CEO Rabbi Regev: "These results - yet another reason for pride during Pride Month, but the legal and political reality is shameful."

64% unaware that legal divorce available only via Orthodox rabbinical courts

64% unaware that legal divorce available only via Orthodox rabbinical courts

Two-thirds of the Jewish Israeli population are unaware that Jewish couples can only get legally divorced through Israel's rabbinical courts, even if they were married in civil ceremonies abroad; 57% of the public underestimate the number of Israeli citizens from the former Soviet Union who cannot get legally married.

71% Israeli Jews attach importance to marriage & divorce freedom

71% Israeli Jews attach importance to marriage & divorce freedom

60% of the Jewish Israeli public supports the involvement of American Jewish organizations in advancing marriage freedom in Israel. There is no doubt that for Israelis – breaking the yoke of the fundamentalist Orthodox Rabbinate in marriage and divorce is a top priority among the religion/state battles. Israelis welcome American Jewish partnership in advancing this cause, both for the sake of Israel and for the sake of world Jewry!

71% of Israeli Jews: Rabbinate's monopoly distances Jews from Judaism

71% of Israeli Jews: Rabbinate's monopoly distances Jews from Judaism

Not only is the denial of the freedom to marry antithetical to core democratic principles, but it also undermines Jewish interests. 71% of the Israeli Jewish public maintain that the Chief Rabbinate's and the rabbinical courts' monopoly over marriage and divorce distances Jews from Judaism.

Hiddush presents: Marriage freedom by the numbers

Hiddush presents: Marriage freedom by the numbers

Hiddush released its new presentation titled, 'Marriage Freedom in Israel: by the Numbers,' which provides answers to the questions most often asked about the condition of marriage freedom in Israel, and related issues. Shahar Ilan, the Hiddush VP of Research and Information, presented the data at the meeting of the Knesset's Peoplehood, Religion, & State Caucus.

Hiddush demands appointment of women to religious councils

Hiddush demands appointment of women to religious councils

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party's Minister of Religious Services David Azoulay has appointed six “appointees” for four religious councils since assuming office after the May 2015 Knesset elections. Minister Azoulay, like his predecessors, has not appointed a single woman, despite Israeli law and the commitment the Ministry made to the AG office in the past to exercise affirmative action in this arena.

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