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The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs hoped to promote a positive image of the country by publishing a video showing its supposedly open and tolerant attitude toward marriage. He simply forgot to mention that "alternative" marriages that he has chosen to highlight are often not recognized as legal in the country and, in some cases, can even bring their participants to jail.
#Wedding ?? The day is the one you wear for the rest of your life, so what's the best way to get married? The Israelis have different ways of celebrating this happy beginning – Watch: pic.twitter.com/8qyK0jtPFc
– Israel ישראל (@Israel) June 28, 2018
The video, which was posted on The ministry's official Twitter page, released on Friday, drew dozens of ironic and sarcastic reactions, mostly from Israelis, who were clearly not the target audience since it was in English. Among those who quickly pointed to hypocrisy, there was even a former Israeli prime minister.
"There are many reasons to be proud of Israel – freedom of marriage is not part of it," writes Ehud Barak, who retweeted the two-minute video. It's time for every couple to get married in Israel. Shabbat Shabbat. "
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Tomer Persico, a researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute specializing in religion and state issues, tweeted the following response to the Department of Foreign Affairs: "As someone whose marriage the state of Israel did not recognize this pathetic attempt at Hasbara [public diplomacy] makes me cringe … Israel has banned Jewish marriages outside the chief rabbinate and recognizes only those made by approved Orthodox rabbis, blatantly limiting freedom of religion.
Among the couples featured in the video were Anat and Hezi, who chose, as a growing number of Israeli couples in recent years, not to marry through the orthodox-run rabbinate. Instead, they were married by a friend. As the video clearly shows, Hezi did not even wear a kippa on his head during the ceremony.
"It was really important to us that the ceremony be something more personal, something more appropriate for us," he said.
This approach was also adopted by Daniel and Nitzan, another couple featured in the video. "Make it your own style," said Daniel. "Bring your own appearance to things."
Just that doing things "your own style" is not allowed at Israeli marriages.
According to Israeli law, for a Jewish couple to be recognized as legally married, it must first register and obtain the Rabbinate's approval. The rabbi leading the ceremony must also be approved by the rabbinate. The rabbinate does not marry Jews or non-Jews or same-bad marriages. If one or both partners can not provide documentation of their Jewish lineage, the rabbinate will not approve of the marriage either.
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Thus, while there is a flourishing industry of "alternative marriages" in Israel – a euphemism in many cases for marriages celebrated under the auspices of the Rabbinate – married couples in such ceremonies are not recognized as legally married unless they go there. Civil ceremony abroad and return to Israel with a foreign marriage certificate in their hands.
Married couples of reformed and conservative rabbis in Israel, for example, would not be considered legally married. Couples would also not be married by unaffiliated wedding officiants or simply friends, as were Anat and Hezi.
But not all orthodox rabbis are recognized by the rabbinate either. Couples married by such rabbis, even in a ceremony that adheres to the strictest religious rules, would not be recognized as married. In fact, Orthodox rabbis who perform such "halakhic" marriages (marriages in accordance with Jewish law) outside the rabbinate, as well as married couples, are considered to be in violation of the law and could be sentenced to two years in prison. They are found guilty. To this day, this law has never been put to the test, but recent attempts to remove it from the books have failed.
For many years, Israeli couples who wanted to avoid the rabbinate or who were not considered marriageable according to its strict criteria, flew abroad to marry, Cyprus being the most popular destination. In recent years, however, more and more people are choosing to celebrate their wedding with family and friends in Israel, knowing very well that they will not be recognized as married in the country.
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A study published in Haaretz earlier this month revealed that in 2017, at least 2,434 Jewish wedding ceremonies took place in Israel outside the rabbinate's authority, an 8% increase than the previous year. The study, conducted by Panim – an badociation of dozens of Israeli non-governmental organizations dedicated to promoting Jewish pluralism in the country – also revealed that 150 of these marriages were celebrated last year. by orthodox rabbis.
According to the study, most of the couples who organize private wedding ceremonies in Israel – 55% – are secular Jews opposed to the Rabbinate's institution for ideological reasons that could have been married by the Rabbinate s & rsquo; They had chosen to do it.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said: "From time to time, we produce videos aimed at representing Israeli society in all its diversity, and in this context, we wanted to show all the alternatives. ways in which Israelis get married. "
When asked if it was not unusual to promote, through this video, activities that are not considered legal in the country, he has said: "We will not go in all shades. And they are not necessarily recommendations. For example, paragliding is a dangerous sport. But it is not because we have broadcast a video on paragliding in Israel that we encourage people to participate in something dangerous. "
Be Free Israel (aka Israel Hofsheet), an organization that supports greater religious pluralism in the country, actively promotes marriages outside the rabbinate through advertising campaigns and other services that it offer. Responding to the video, Executive Director Uri Keidar said, "It is very important to see that our government recognizes the importance of allowing Israelis to enjoy the freedom of marriage, but I am not sure that it is safe. a video describing an alternative reality is the right thing to do.
"While thousands of Israelis from all walks of life are taking Judaism into their hands and marrying out of the rabbinate, our government is not part of the solution at the moment, but part of the problem," he said. he continued. We welcome any change in the current situation of our political leaders, but as we see that the current coalition does not seek to create a more pluralistic Jewish sphere, we will continue this effort with the winds of the majority of Israelis behind us. "
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