Israel Supreme Court Orders Interior Ministry To Register Online Civil Marriage Ceremonies

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Illustration photo of a Jewish wedding Hupa in front of the Mediterranean Sea in Central Jerusalem. January 11, 2018 (Photo by Mendy Hechtman/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (VINnews) —In a controversial decision which infuriated the religious establishment, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Interior Ministry is obligated to register as married couples who wed in online civil ceremonies through the US state of Utah. This would provide for the first time a legal civil marriage option for Israelis without leaving the country.

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The court ruled that the Population and Immigration Authority had no legal right to refuse to register such marriages, since its only task is to register valid legal marriage documents and not to delve into complex legal questions.

Israeli couples first began to use Utah’s online civil marriage services in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when they could not travel abroad for civil ceremonies, which are not available in Israel.

Then-interior minister Aryeh Deri ordered the Population and Immigration Authority to suspend the registration of such marriages, an order upheld by Deri’s successor Ayelet Shaked, but several couples petitioned the courts against the decision.

Some 1,200 couples have married in Utah’s online civil marriages since 2020.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman welcomes the ruling, saying it was “good that the Supreme Court stood up to the religious coercion of Deri and his friends who are trying to lead us to a state of religious law.”

However Shas MK Moshe Arbel of Shas slammed the decision, stating that it demonstrates the need to push through the government’s radical judicial overhaul agenda.

“The Supreme Court’s recognition on Purim of civil marriages performed over the Zoom app is a sad joke at the expense of all of Israel’s religious and traditional citizens, and expresses more than anything the desire to advance the values of a cosmopolitan democracy and erase the Jewish identity of the state,” said Arbel.


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14 Comments
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Judith
Judith
1 year ago

This law does not come at anybody’s expense . It’s just about private citizens leading private lives . They are not imposing on anyone .

Enough of the nonsense
Enough of the nonsense
1 year ago

This is why the Supreme Court needs to be tamed. They’re self serving and self appointing members is anti democratic.

Alta Bubby
Alta Bubby
1 year ago

A sikutely absurd

Wilbur
Wilbur
1 year ago

So now you see why judicial reform is absolutely necessary!!

Triumphinwhitehouse
Triumphinwhitehouse
1 year ago

The zionists exposing their real anti torah agenda every day

Al Gore
Al Gore
1 year ago

Since when is the Mediterranean Sea in Jerusalem?