Jewish wedding
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Israel Police on Thursday detained Dov Hayoun, a Conservative rabbi who heads the Conservative community in Haifa.

Hayoun was questioned on suspicion of an offense under section 7 of the Marriage and Divorce Ordinance, which prohibits private marriage and divorce, and establishes a two-year prison term for marriage or divorce without registration.

"It's not pleasant to be dragged out of bed for interrogation for the sin of carrying out weddings in accordance with the laws of Moses and Israel. I am not an offender, not a murderer, not a criminal. I was shocked,” he said, according to Kan.

"It is hard for me to think of a less Jewish act on the eve of Tisha B'Avץ The police were dragged in to serve as a tool for the Orthodox rabbinical court. It is a sad day for democracy in Israel."

Recently, Deputy State Attorney Shlomo Lamberger rejected the request of the legal advisor of the Ministry of Religious Services to open a similar investigation against three Orthodox rabbis.

In the request, it was claimed that two of the three rabbis declared that they performed marriage ceremonies according to the law of Moses and Israel in private, without registration, while the third declared that he had performed halachic divorce without registration.

Uri Keidar, the executive direct of the Israel Hofsheet group, slammed the decision to investigate Hayoun. "The day after the Knesset passes a law against the LGBT community, police arrive at 5:30 am and drag a Conservative rabbi who carried out weddings outside the rabbinate out of his house. Tens of thousands of Israelis get married every year outside the rabbinate and express distrust in that corrupt institution, which exists only due to scared politicians who are afraid to lead and allow civil marriage in Israel. There is no possibility other than the immediate enactment of a law for civil marriage, we have no more time to circumvent it."

"At the beginning of the next session, a bill on civil marriage will be presented to the Knesset, and we will see who supports Israelis and who supports the rabbinate. Until then, we expect the prime minister, from whom this bad spirit blows, to call and apologize to Rabbi Hayoun.”

The Rabbinical Court's administration has explained the nature of the complaint against the Conservative rabbi who was taken in for questioning by police on Thursday morning.

The court said "This is a person who married those who were not permitted to marry, which is criminal and prohibited by law. Additionally, he also avoided arranging records as is required by the law."