The Israeli papers are carrying reports of two interesting developments in the Knesset (Israel's Parliament). Haaretz today reports that Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar told the Knesset's Committee for the Advancement of Women and the State Control Committee that he is willing to support civil marriage in Israel for non-Jews and people who have no religion. Currently marriage is controlled by each religious community. The proposal is designed to solve the problem of 300,000 non-Jewish immigrants in Israel who have no religious affiliation. It would not apply to marriages between Jews and non-Jews.
In an unrelated matter, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that the Knesset's religious lobby has requested an urgent meeting with officials of El Al, Israel's national airline to protest two recent instances in which El Al flights took off on the Sabbath. The incidents have caused a storm of protest in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community. El Al has apologized.
