Israeli Support For Gay Marriage Rises To All-Time High

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Ahead of Tel Aviv Pride, 79 percent of Israelis Jews told pollsters they support allowing same-sex marriage or civil unions for gay couples.
According to Hiddush, the religious pluralism group that commissioned the poll released Thursday, public support for allowing gay couples to marry in Israel has reached an all-time high. The group found 76 percent support last year, and just 53 percent in 2009.
The Rafi Smith Polling Institute conducted the poll of 500 Israeli Jewish adults on June 5 and 6, asking, “Do you think same-sex couples should be permitted to marry or have civil unions in Israel?” The margin of error is 4.5 percent.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
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