The Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, said that if Israeli law recognizes civil marriages, assimilation would receive a boost.

Amar spoke in Eilat, at the annual conference held by the Bar Association's Family Forum, which is devoted to the subject of the family unit.

Amar said that the people who demand civil unions "use scare tactics," and cite the plight of about 300,000 "religion-less" Israelis who cannot marry. Amar said that it is possible to arrange for these 300,000 to marry among themselves inside Israel, and that he suggested this some time ago and received the support of the government. For some reason, Amar added, the idea has not been advanced since.