Israel must grant all citizens the right to civil marriage (Ha'aretz editorial)

[Violet_Crumble]

The radicalization of the rabbinical establishment have led to a situation where the status of women - on issues of marriage, property rights, child custody and divorce - is swiftly deteriorating.

The dozens of Israeli couples who married about two weeks ago in a mass ceremony in the city square of Larnaca, Cyprus, didn't do so in order to break the Guinness record for mass weddings. They were forced to take part in this expensive procedure, far from home and family, because in Israel, there was no way they could have a civil wedding.

The United Nations has issued a report on implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which Gili Cohen (Haaretz, July 5 ) noted was handed to the government authorities here in February of this year. The UN is not interested in the coalition arrangements of successive Israeli governments. Like an earlier report that examined trafficking in human beings, this report deals particularly with the blatant undermining of women and their status.

Although Israel likes to boast that it is "the only democracy in the Middle East," and signed the convention requiring it to ensure equal rights for women in marriage and family relationships, it is ranked, according to Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, who heads Bar-Ilan University's Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women's Status, "in a bad place in the middle," and Israel, in effect, stands "among the countries of the developing world and the Muslim world."

The continuing abandonment of the areas of marital relationships and family to the control of the Orthodox establishment is not the legacy of the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alone, but during his tenure there has been a worrisome worsening of the situation: The Haredization and radicalization of the rabbinical establishment have led to a situation where the status of women - on issues of marriage, property rights, child custody and, above all, divorce - is swiftly deteriorating. The thundering silence of Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman in light of the reactionary norms that have taken over in the rabbinical courts and the ease with which the government has been expanding the powers of the rabbis have only exacerbated the situation.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-must-grant-all-citizens-the-right-to-civil-marriage-1.371675

[pelsar]

1. they dont mention the worse part...

after a divorce if the man doesnt issue a 'get" a religious release the ex wife can't get married again.......keeps her in limbo for the rest of her life

i just love those guys as they "protect" the women from the evils of modern society.

[Violet_Crumble]

2. That one's a nasty one...

I really hope the time comes soon (clearly not till after Nutty's gang is voted out) when the power of the religious over civil society is done away with...

[azurnoir]

3. more on this from Haaretz

UN committee: Israel must allow civil marriage

Halperin-Kadari added that this was the first time that a UN committee had so clearly stated that Israel must allow civil marriage and do all it can to end the discrimination against women in family law.

The committee also stated that domestic violence and violence against women were still widespread in Israel. The panel also expressed concern over the scope of trafficking in women and the wide income gaps between men and women.

The report included a section on violence and harassment of women in the Palestinian-controlled areas, citing violence from Israeli soldiers, "non-state" elements, such as settlers, and the abuse they are subject to in their communities.

Halperin-Kadari said that this section of the report reflected a political bias common to UN reports.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-committee-israel-must-allow-civil-marriage-1.371483?localLinksEnabled=false

[LeftishBrit]

4. Indeed, stop kowtowing to the noisy religious-right minority

Though I suspect that this will only happen when the electoral system is modified so that the religious-right parties can't hold practically any government hostage.

'The right to marry and to start a family is a basic civil right, as is a woman's right to equality in all areas of life'

Indeed!

[pelsar]

5. thats actually the solution.....

its a matter of reducing the amount of parties that get into the knesset....the problem with that is that then there are fewer parties that get to pressure the govt and that includes all of the minority parties and the knesset goes even more "elitist."

interesting political problem, the idea of smaller parties and minorities having a say in the govt is a great idea and idealistic..... vs the reality that those same parties get to have a stranglehold on the govt and the citizens.

[AverageJoe90]

6. This is the sort of thing that happens........

When a country lets it's hard-righters take over. Israel is slowly, but surely sinking into the same depths we are.
The Israeli people need to wake up, and soon.