Civil Marriage in Israel: An issue of global concern and action

As more Jewish organizations and communities in Israel and the Diapsora work together to promote freedom of marriage in Israel, Israeli policymakers will understand the need for civil marriage in Israel.

29/04/2013 14:59

Tags: civil marriage · AJC · NCJW · freedom of marriage · chief rabbinate

''Putting Us All in One Box''--from the Campaign for Free Marriage in Israel

Hiddush came into being as an Israel-diaspora partnership. We set out under the conviction that issues involving Israel's Jewish and democratic character are a topic of global Jewish concern and engagement. The needed changes will occur only if we join forces across the continents to work in concert to advance religious freedom and equality for all.

Significant progress was made in March when the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) adopted a statement promoting civil marriage in Israel. We take great pride in knowing that the adoption of the statement followed a series of discussions with the NCJW leadership and a presentation made at their annual Washington Institute by Rabbi Uri Regev, CEO of Hiddush. His message for religious freedom and the short-term need to focus on freedom and equality in marriage was enthusiastically received by this major Jewish organization's leadership. We feel privileged to have been able to work together and help in the process of shaping the organization's landmark statement.

What drives us is not only the knowledge that freedom of marriage is an essential civil right, but also that our consistent polling of public opinion in Israel repeatedly demonstrates that freedom of marriage enjoys the support of a clear majority of Israelis.

The NCJW's public stand follows a previous pioneering position taken by a key American Jewish grassroots organization, the American Jewish Committee, which adopted a detailed resolution in their June 2012 board meeting. It included the following:

"In the 21st century, a coercive Chief Rabbinate has become, atbest, an anachronism, and, at worst, a force dividing the Jewish people and corroding Israel's international standing. AJC calls upon the Government of Israel to undertake promptly all needed actions to the end that (a) matters of personal status may, at the election of the persons involved, be determined by civil authorities, and (b) that all organized Jewish denominations recognized by the American Jewish community, along with their rabbis and rabbinic decrees and rulings, be acknowledged and accepted by all Israeli government bodies and accorded the same rights and privileges as all other currently sanctioned religious communities present in Israel."

Clearly this is just the beginning of the involvement of world Jewry in partnering with Israeli organizations who work to advance religious freedom and in helping Israel to adopt freedom of marriage. Hiddush is working in concert with AJC, NCJW and like-minded Israeli and North American Jewish NGOs to expand the scope of organizational and individual support for the critical cause of marriage equality. What drives us is not only the knowledge that freedom of marriage is an essential civil right, but also that our consistent polling of public opinion in Israel repeatedly demonstrates that freedom of marriage enjoys the support of a clear majority of Israelis.