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8 Adar 5766 - March 8, 2006 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Civil Marriage Law Narrowly Defeated in Knesset

By Eliezer Rauchberger

A civil marriage bill tabled by Shinui was defeated 12 to 11 in a Knesset plenum session.

Minister Roni Bar-On, responding for the government, lodged criticism against the former Shinui members, saying that their defiant and provocative conduct actually defeated efforts to reach a solution for Israelis who are ineligible to marry one another according to halochoh (e.g. a Jew and a non-Jew, chas vesholom). He said that according to Kadima's platform if the party wins the government will pass a law allowing civil marriage. "I will not allow 400,000 people to be denied their fundamental right to live as they please," he said.

In response to a question by MK Ilan Shalgi (formerly of Shinui) why the government does not begin seeking a solution immediately, Bar-On said, "Because you defeat this. You defeat it time after time. It won't go over by force. It won't go over spitefully. It won't go over through defiance. It will only go over with reason, with consensus."

Later Bar-On told the former Shinui MKs, "You only use slogans and you too do not have the power to solve the problem. It won't help. You can hold a concert here and scream [as long as you want]. We will solve the problem. You live only to pour fuel on the fire. We will solve this problem."

MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said the entire discussion was worthless since in the current Knesset laws cannot be passed, even in preliminary votes. Therefore clearly the only reason the issue was being raised by the former Shinui MKs was for election propaganda purposes. "They are not looking out for pesulei chittun or [non-Jews] or civil marriage. They are not looking out for anything other than their seats, and therefore I have no response whatsoever to these inconsequential remarks."

MK Yitzchak Cohen (Shas) said it was astonishing to see to what a lowly level one could reach. "A party that the public has already tossed out continues to waste millions of shekels in public funds when they know they will not pass the minimum cutoff in the next election. They continue to waste public funds and to poison the public atmosphere. We are a Jewish state and civil marriage cannot be. Go home."

 

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