Israel Extends Law of Return to Non-Jewish Same-Sex Spouses
Image by Getty Images
Israel extended immigration benefits to non-Jewish spouses in same-sex marriages.
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Gideon Saar instructed the government to extend the benefits of the Law of Return to all married couples.
The law affords non-Jewish spouses of Jewish immigrants full citizenship and immigration benefits, but Israel had not extended the privileges to same-sex spouses while not explicitly prohibiting same-sex spouses from receiving them.
“The Law of Return deals with the ingathering of all members of the Jewish people,” Saar wrote to his ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority, according to Haaretz. “In this regard, I see no reason to distinguish between Jews married in heterosexual marriages and Jews legally married abroad to a same-sex spouse. Both are Jews in terms of the Law of Return.”
Israel does not recognize same-sex marriages performed in the country, but does recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
