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civil marriage

Vicky and Eilam Sher on their wedding day in 2020. They held a private ceremony not recognized by the State of Israel. (Courtesy)
February 21, 2025, 9:01 am
Avoiding the Rabbinate, 3,000 Israeli couples married last year in Utah’s ‘Zoom weddings’
New report by group promoting religious freedom says 67% of Israeli public supports recognizing all types of marriages in Israel, including civil, Reform and Conservative
By Rossella Tercatin
New York City Mayor Eric Adams marries Asaf Zamir and Maya Wertheimer the New York Public Library on June 11, 2023. (Maya Wertheimer/Instagram)
June 12, 2023, 6:46 pm
Asaf Zamir and Maya Wertheimer are wed by NYC mayor ahead of return to Israel
Former consul general and actress wife retie knot in the US since their Reform marriage in Israel isn’t recognized by the Jewish state
By PHILISSA CRAMER
Israelis attend a protest against military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students and the government's planned judicial overhaul, outside the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem, May 4, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
May 4, 2023, 11:19 pm
‘Day of Equality’ sought to revitalize protests; limited turnout underlines challenge
Demonstrations against Haredi military exemptions, religious and gender inequality were an effort to restore momentum of anti-overhaul movement, but public’s response was muted
By Jeremy Sharon
Illustrative: A Jewish wedding with chuppah in Vienna 2007. (CC BY SA 2.5 Gryffindor)
April 16, 2023, 5:20 am
Many Jews eligible to marry via Rabbinate elect to do so abroad instead — survey
Report finds 1 in 3 couples who got a civil marriage could’ve had a religious ceremony in Israel, indicating rising alienation from religious bodies even as observance remains high
By Canaan Lidor
Sapir and Gili Zeelon get married over Zoom through a wedding officiant in Utah in January 2021. (Courtesy: Sapir Zeelon)
March 12, 2023, 10:20 pm
Why a county in Utah could play a role in Israel’s judicial crisis
Israeli Supreme Court ruling recognizes US virtual marriage process, letting Israelis bypass the rabbinate and angering a ruling coalition that seeks controversial judicial change
By Ben Sales
An Israeli couple marries in an online civil marriage ceremony under the auspices of Utah County in the US State of Utah. (Courtesy WedinSea)
March 7, 2023, 4:44 pm
Israel must recognize online marriages conducted via Utah, Supreme Court rules
Landmark ruling upholds decision allowing Israeli couples to wed in civil ceremony without leaving country, angering religious parties
By Jeremy Sharon
Illustrative: Gal Sade Knigsfild and Nofar Almakias pose for a picture with face masks before their wedding in Moshav Yashresh on April 6, 2020 (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
December 4, 2022, 1:01 pm
Israel starts registering Utah ‘Zoom weddings,’ but fate of marriages still unclear
After initially flouting High Court ruling, Population Authority agrees to recognize marriages performed online by officiant in US; state has appealed against legality of practice
By Judah Ari Gross
Sapir and Gili Zeelon get married over Zoom through a wedding officiant in Utah in January 2021. (Courtesy: Sapir Zeelon)
November 3, 2022, 9:18 pm
Government turns to High Court to challenge recognition of Utah ‘Zoom weddings’
Israel’s state attorney calls for justices to bar the Interior Ministry from recognizing existing marriages until the matter is resolved
By Judah Ari Gross
Sapir and Gili Zeelon get married over Zoom through a wedding officiant in Utah in January 2021. (Courtesy: Sapir Zeelon)
September 29, 2022, 11:42 pm
In step toward civil marriage, Jerusalem court accepts ‘Zoom weddings’ from Utah
In early 2020, Utah began issuing marriage licenses for ceremonies performed online, offering an easy alternative for Israelis who can’t or won’t marry through the rabbinate
By Judah Ari Gross
United States President Joe Biden during a welcoming ceremony, at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on July 13, 2022, on his first official visit to Israel since becoming US president. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)
July 14, 2022, 2:16 pm
Daily Briefing July 14: True reason for Biden’s visit; civil marriage game-changer
Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur presents a different narrative for the US president’s Israel trip; legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon on the Bibi trial and Utah online weddings
By ToI Staff
An Israeli couple marries in an online civil marriage ceremony under the auspices of Utah County in the US State of Utah. (Courtesy WedinSea)
July 10, 2022, 2:06 pm
Court rules online civil marriages valid, upending Israel’s religious status quo
Interior Ministry now obligated to register as married Israeli couples who wed in online ceremonies through the US state of Utah
By Jeremy Sharon
Illustrative: Visitors walk by the water tower on the ruins of the evacuated settlement of Homesh on August 27, 2019. (Hillel Maeir/Flash90)
May 26, 2022, 2:06 pm
Daily Briefing May 26: Political minefield at West Bank settlement Homesh
Political reporter Carrie Keller-Lynn is debriefed on a crazy week before heading off to the Homesh hotspot; news editor Amy Spiro uses reality TV as a window into Israel’s reality
By ToI Staff
Immigrants fleeing from Ukraine arrive at the immigration and absorption office at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on March 15, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
March 18, 2022, 7:40 am
Israel has opened its arms to Ukrainian immigrants. But will they have equal rights?
Many new immigrants expected to join the ranks of those with ‘no religion,’ leaving them unable to be married in Israel; rabbinate suspicion of Jewish status will only grow sharper
By Amy Spiro
In this Nov. 2, 2016 photo, the heads of the Jewish Reform and Conservative movements carry Torah scrolls as they march to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem's Old City. Israel's High Court of Justice on Monday, March 1, 2021, ruled that people who convert to Judaism through the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel are to be considered Jewish and entitled to become citizens, breaking the Orthodox monopoly on conversions in the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)
October 28, 2021, 2:10 pm
Daily Briefing Oct. 28 – On being Jewish in Israel
Ops and blogs editor Miriam Herschlag and reporter Amy Spiro discuss the new head of the Reform movement in Israel and the ongoing issue of non-Orthodox marriages
By ToI Staff
Artem Dolgopyat, Israeli artistic gymnastics men's gold medalist, stands with his fiancée Maria Sakovich, on his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, August 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
August 5, 2021, 1:07 pm
Enough of the legal gymnastics: Why Israel should let its gold medalist marry
Artem Dolgopyat and his fiancée aren’t complaining. But they and 400,000 others are victims of a nonsensical policy that gives them citizenship but denies them the right to wed
By David Horovitz
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