In A Blow to Religious Establishment, Israeli Court
Rules Online Marriages Must Be Honored
Allan C. Brownfeld, Editor
Special Interest Report
August 2022
An Israeli district court in the city of Lod ruled in July that Israel’s
Interior Ministry is required to recognize the marriages of couples who use a
virtual wedding service provided by the U.S. city of Provo, Utah.
“If the decision stands,” reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (July 11, 2022),
“it would mean that couples who do not want to or cannot have an Orthodox Jewish
wedding could get the benefits of marriage without leaving Israel, as they are
currently required to do. Those include LGBT couples, interfaith couples and
couples in which one partner is not recognized by one of the established
religious authorities and couples who are committed to non-Orthodox Judaism.”
Israel has no civil marriage and Jewish marriages have been controlled by the
Orthodox establishment, which has frustrated non-Orthodox Israelis and those who
convert to Judaism outside of Orthodoxy. Non-Orthodox rabbis cannot perform
weddings in Israel and their conversions are not recognized.
Until now, marriages not recognized by the Orthodox establishment had to occur
abroad in order to be registered by the Interior Ministry. When the Covid
pandemic began in early 2020, some couples turned to an online wedding service
launched in Utah. Officials in Utah did not realize the convenience the service
could provide to those in countries with restrictive marriage laws, but were
pleased to offer it. After the Israeli Interior Ministry froze registration of
the Utah marriages, a number of couples, backed by Israeli civil liberties
groups, filed a lawsuit. Now, conservative politicians pledge to advance
legislation that would negate the court’s ruling. **
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