Religious Issues Will Be Important In Upcoming Israeli Elections

Israel will be holding elections in February, and the Jerusalem Post reported last week that religious issues will be important in the election battle. One key issue is civil marriages. Currently only marriages performed by Jewish, Christian or Muslim religious authorities are permitted in Israel. Some 300,000 Israelis-- many Russian immigrants or their children-- have Jewish ancestry, but are not Jewish according to rabbinic law (because their mother was not Jewish and they did not convert according to Orthodox religious law). They are unable to marry inside the country. Also mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews are not performed in Israel. In all of these cases, individuals have to travel outside the country to marry. Another item that may find its way into the campaign is a proposed reform of the way that rabbinic courts handle divorces. Some want to separate determination of financial issues from the giving of a get (a Jewish divorce document) by the husband. This may give courts more leverage to force husbands to sign a get. The resolution of these and other religious issues will depend on which religious parties are part of a majority coalition after elections. [Thanks to Religion and State in Israel for the lead.]