New poll shows most Israelis want more freedom of choice in wedding ceremony
A new poll commissioned by the Hiddush organization revealed that a clear majority of Israeli Jews want more freedom of choice when it comes to getting married. As the law currently stands, only Orthodox Jewish weddings are legally recognized by Israeli authorities, although many have resorted to alternative solutions and expressed dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Hiddush is a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of “freedom of religion and conscience” and “full social and political equality" regardless of religion, according to its website. It has been conducting polls to ascertain public opinion on this matter for more than 10 years.
According to Hiddush, the results of the poll have been consistent since 2010: Israeli Jews want more freedom about how they marry in Israel.
The research, conducted by the Smith Institute in cooperation with Hiddush, polled a sample of 800 Israelis and found that two-thirds of the Jewish public in Israel supports legislation that would abolish the Orthodox monopoly in Israel to allow for freedom of choice.
According to the results, released on “Tu B’Av” (an Israeli day of love, similar to Valentine's Day in the West), the institute reported, “67% of the Jewish public in Israel support the recognition by the state of all types of marriage, including civil, Conservative and Reform marriages. Among the secular public 92% support it, and even 31% of those who define themselves as religious do so.”
Currently, Arab Christians are free to marry one another throughout churches in Israel and Muslims can have a legally binding marriage under Islamic Sharia Law. Jewish couples, however, must have a religious Orthodox wedding overseen by the Rabbinate. Mixed couples, or people of Jewish descent who are not recognized as Jewish by rabbinic halacha, must travel to marry overseas and then have their documents approved by the Population and Immigration Authority in Israel.
During the restrictions of COVID-19, the lockdowns resulted in many creative online solutions to performing a wedding ceremony, including a couple that discovered it was possible to be legally married online in the State of Utah without leaving Israel. Since then, many have chosen to marry via the “Utah” route to save on the expense of traveling overseas.
The Hiddush poll also asked questions to gauge public opinion about the use of this option, and what people would choose to do if they were free to do so:
“According to the survey findings, only 50% of the Jewish public would choose Orthodox marriage, 22% would opt for civil marriage [8% – civil marriage abroad, and 14% – "Utah marriages"], 13% would opt for Conservative or Reform marriage and 15% would choose cohabitation without marriage.”
The current restrictions regarding marriage in Israel date back to a letter written by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's national founder, in 1947. The letter was written to religious Jewish parties, primarily Agudat Israel, an ultra-Orthodox political party, when it tried to gather disparate sectors of the Jewish population to form a functioning state.
Ben-Gurion gave several assurances that the State of Israel would be kept distinctly Jewish by protecting of religious practices, including upholding Shabbat, kosher laws in public places, maintaining Jewish education and keeping marriage under the rabbinical courts. The resulting agreement, known as the Status-Quo Agreement, was developed over the years as specifics in each area were elaborated and codified into law.
Ever since the war began on Oct. 7, the Israeli government has walked back the Status-Quo Agreement which absolved Orthodox Jews from having to serve in the army. Hiddush now hopes that the State of Israel will make adjustments to the law in the area of marriage, as well.
“The irony is that the Rabbinate has managed to alienate tens of thousands of couples from the institution of marriage, leading them to prefer cohabitation without formal marriage. Thus, the Rabbinate has become the greatest threat to the institution of marriage in Israel,” Hiddush stated.
Jo Elizabeth has a great interest in politics and cultural developments, studying Social Policy for her first degree and gaining a Masters in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University, but she loves to write about the Bible and its primary subject, the God of Israel. As a writer, Jo spends her time between the UK and Jerusalem, Israel.
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