Sep 05, 2007Quickie Link: Impinging on Gay Rights in Israel
By vanrozenheim
(Israel) - The ultra-Orthodox parties' success in preventing any attempt to legalize civil marriage shows that their ability to force through discriminatory legislation is not diminishing. Neither is their capacity to bar progressive lawmaking. The cabinet's intention to ratify the current Inheritance Law - which acknowledges only couples made of "a man and a woman" and refuses to recognize the existence of same-sex partners - is wrongful. Ratifying the law would run contrary to the recommendations of a public commission of experts headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel. It would also be ignoring previous court rulings on Gay rights. The Knesset must not assist the cabinet in realizing this intention.
