Members of the Ministerial Legislative Committee were divided today over a bill drafted by the Interior Ministry, which would prohibit the registration of marriages contracted abroad between Jews and non-Jews.
The bill was prepared to modify existing laws under which Israelis of different faiths, marrying abroad outside Israel Jurisdiction, can return to Israel and have their marriages registered. The Israel Supreme Court, in a decision last week, ruled that, under existing law, such marriages, although invalid under Israel law, must be registered in the applicant’s identity card.
Religious Affairs Minister Zorach Warhaftig, one of the five members of the Legislative Committee, warned that his party, the National Religious faction, would leave the coalition unless the proposed bill were passed. He said the purpose of the bill was to plug a loophole in the present law which permitted Israeli Jews to marry non-Jews abroad and return to Israel.
The majority of the Committee, on the other hand, took exception to a stipulation in the bill which states that every document pertaining to the marriage of a Jew must first be approved by the Rabbinate.
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