Israel Interior Minister Refuses to Register Utah Marriages
Legal Groups Protest Israel's Interior Minister
J-PLAN, the Jewish Pluralism Legal Action Network, a network of Jewish lawyers in North America, working in partnership with Hiddush – Freedom of Religion for Israel, and the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists [AAJLJ] sent a letter on January 18, 2021,to Israel’s Interior Minister, Attorney General, and other officials, to protest the Ministry of the Interior’s recent decision to suspend registration of civil marriages of Israeli citizens lawfully married under the laws of "Utah County in the State of Utah.
Uri Regev 21/01/2021 23:44
Tags: civil marriage · Interior Ministry · Aryeh Deri · JPLAN
Israeli law grants religious authorities sole authority over marriages of Israelis. The Chief Rabbinate has sole authority over all marriages for Jews in Israel. Civil marriage does not exist. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens are unable to marry because they fail to meet the requirements imposed by religious authorities, or simply because they do not wish to submit to a religious authority for conscientious reasons.
The JPLAN and AAJLJ legal groups firmly believe that the full solution to this problem must be to provide Israeli citizens with a civil marriage option separate from religious authorities. The overwhelming majority of Israelis supports this solution. In the meantime, many Israeli citizens marry overseas, and have their overseas marriages registered by the Israeli authorities under principles of international comity and following clear precedents or Israel’s Supreme Court.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented many Israelis from traveling overseas to marry. Moreover, many Israelis cannot afford to travel overseas.
The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented many Israelis from traveling overseas to marry. Moreover, many Israelis cannot afford to travel overseas.
A relatively recent solution has been afforded by Utah County in the State of Utah, which permits marriages under Utah law to be conducted entirely online. However, the Interior Ministry has now suspended continued registration of these marriages, despite the Population Registry satisfaction with their bona fide legal status before registering the first couples that married in this manner.
Israel, the State of the Jewish people, is the only Western democratic state in the world that does not permit Jews and other citizens to marry freely as they choose. The Utah marriage option at least gave citizens an opportunity to marry without jeopardizing their health due to the pandemic, and without the cost of international travel. The Interior Ministry’s failure to recognize lawful marriages conducted under Utah law violates the civil rights of Israeli citizens. It is simply unacceptable.
A copy of the letter can be found here: [LINK]