Justice Ministry pushes law recognizing same-sex civil unions

The Justice Ministry, at Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's request, renewed calls on Sunday for a law that would grant legal rights to couples, including same-sex partners, married in civil unions outside the rabbinical institution. A copy of the initiative was distributed by the ministry among lawmakers.

The main change the Justice Ministry sought through the proposal was an amendment that allowed couples to declare their status prior to civil marriage, unlike in the current system, which only recognizes retroactive civil unions.

If the bill is passed, it would rescind the current law recognizing civil unions between couples who got married outside the religious institution, establishing a secular institution to approve cohabitation agreements (civil unions).

The current law, called the Civil Union Law for those Without Religion and ratified in 2010, calls a civil union "an agreement between spouses to live together and raise a family and a common household." The Justice Ministry's proposal sought to grant rights to couples that cannot legally get married in Israel and raise a family, such as couples in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

The justice minister said every couple should have the right to choose whether to marry through the traditional rabbinical track, today the only legal method, or through a separate, new institution.

The "proposal would allow the couple to determine by themselves the nature of the relationship between them," she said. "Similarly, separation would be according to their worldviews -- whether through the rabbinate or a new track."

Meanwhile, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation rejected on Sunday a proposal by Labor MK Stav Shafir calling on the government to officially recognize same-sex couples in civil unions.

Ministers from Yesh Atid voted against the proposal. Yesh Atid MKs Aliza Lavie and Ruth Calderon have also submitted a bill backing civil unions that would allow couples to simply fill out a legal form at a courthouse to apply for an approved marriage.

Opposition Chairwoman MK Shelly Yachimovich, also of Labor, said it was "unfortunate" that ministers from Yesh Atid rejected Shafir's bill.

"The attitude among countries toward marriages such as these have become an international measure of enlightenment; it's very unfortunate that Lapid and his messengers expressed their concern, aborting the proposal," she said.