Defense Ministry to recognize same-sex couples for pensions

The Defense Ministry will recognize unmarried couples who live in common-law partnerships, including same-sex couples, for purposes of military service pensions.

The ministry will grant unmarried couples them the pension funds they would get if they were to marry, attorney Irit Rosenblum, chair and founder of the New Family Organization, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The pensions are sealed until several years after a conscript has been released from service but can be withdrawn under certain circumstances, including marriage.

“I am proud that the defense establishment was wise enough to understand that being a couple is a union deeper than marriage and embodies the loftiest ideals of love, loyalty, devotion, sacrifice and family. When two people become a couple, they also become something bigger than they were before,” Rosenbaum said. “In a state where marriage is not obvious and for a large part of the public not possible, there is no other option than giving released soldiers living in a couple equal status to that given to married couples.”

The ministry will decide soon on the procedure of recognizing common-law couples, and a team from the New Family Organization will take part in drafting the procedure, the organization said in a statement.

On Sunday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was a lone voice among right-wing politicians to express the hope that Israel will follow the US Supreme Court and recognize same-sex marriages.