COVID-19 crisis has closed down air travel, meaning thousands of Israeli couples have been unable to marry in civil marriages. Labor leader criticizes Gantz for not backing civil marriage proposals.
By JEREMY SHARONBlue and White party leader Benny Gantz walks in the Israeli Parliament during a vote on a bill to dissolve the Parliament at the Knesset, December 02, 2020. (photo credit: ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL)
Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz intends to advance temporary legislation to allow couples to register their partnerships as civil unions, a form of civil marriage.Gantz says he is moving forward with the legislation due to the inability of hundreds of thousands of Israelis to marry in civil marriages due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of commercial air travel.There is no provision for civil marriage in Israel due to opposition from Orthodox political parties, resulting in thousands of couples flying to Cyprus, the US, the Czech Republic and other destinations every year to marry in civil ceremonies that are then recognized by the Interior Ministry.Around 9,000 couples a year have been registering civil marriages that were conducted abroad in recent years. But the coronavirus crisis has made this option all but impossible.Last week, Gantz said he had received authorization from the attorney-general to advance temporary legislation to create an option for civil unions for anyone who cannot, or does not want to, get married through the Chief Rabbinate or via other established religious authorities of other faith groups in the country.“We cannot remain indifferent to the fact that Israel closing its skies denied many Israeli citizens their basic right to marry,” Gantz said. “The Civil Union Law should be passed because it is the right thing, independent of the pandemic, although the current circumstancesleave so many reasons for people who have objected to it until now to show their solidarity toward couples who want to settle down together. I will do everything in my power to safeguard the principle of equality, so fundamental to democracy.”Passing legislation would be extremely difficult, however, because both Gantz and Government-Knesset Liaison MK Dudi Amsalem (Likud) have to agree to bring any piece of legislation to a vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation before it can be passed to theKnesset.It is unlikely the legislation could be brought to a vote as a private member’s bill.There would be an effort to add it to the agenda of the next meeting of the ministerial committee, a spokesperson for Gantz said.Allowing civil marriage has broad support in Israel, with some 68% of the adult Jewish public supporting it, including 60% of Likud voters, according to a Hiddush poll in 2019.Opposing Gantz’s legislation for civil unions in an election cycle could be politically embarrassing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party.Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli criticized Gantz, noting that two bills for civil marriage were brought to a vote in the Knesset in October before the outgoing government collapsed, and Gantz was absent from the vote while members of his party voted against it.Both bills were defeated.“Two bills for civil marriage came up for a vote in the Knesset this year [sic] and who did not vote?” Michaeli tweeted. “Benny Gantz, who now remembers that we need civil marriage. This is how it is when you sit with Netanyahu.”
