Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit has announced his intention to present a bill to the government that would allow civil divorces and marriages for those ineligible to be married by the rabbinate. Shas party chairman Minister Eli Yeshai says that Sheetrit\'s announcement is \"empty of content, and nothing more than an attempt to stir up cultural and coalition unrest… It is a blatant violation of the coalition agreement [against changing the religious status-quo], it is not serious, not practical, and will not pass.\"
Ramat Gan Chief Rabbi Yaakov Ariel said that there is no need for such a bill, because even those couples that are not allowed to be married by the rabbinate, such as a Kohen with a divorcee or a Jewess with a non-Jew, often obtain a civil status equivalent to that of marriage that is recognized by the state authorities. \"The children of these arrangements are very often perfectly \'kosher\' Jews,\" Rabbi Ariel said today, \"and are able to be married in the rabbinate. There is a common misconception that all children born out of wedlock are considered illegitimate... this is based on Christian sources, but in truth, only in severe cases are the offspring of illicit relationships forbidden to marry, such as the children of a married woman with someone other than her husband, or those of a sister and a brother...\"
Ramat Gan Chief Rabbi Yaakov Ariel said that there is no need for such a bill, because even those couples that are not allowed to be married by the rabbinate, such as a Kohen with a divorcee or a Jewess with a non-Jew, often obtain a civil status equivalent to that of marriage that is recognized by the state authorities. \"The children of these arrangements are very often perfectly \'kosher\' Jews,\" Rabbi Ariel said today, \"and are able to be married in the rabbinate. There is a common misconception that all children born out of wedlock are considered illegitimate... this is based on Christian sources, but in truth, only in severe cases are the offspring of illicit relationships forbidden to marry, such as the children of a married woman with someone other than her husband, or those of a sister and a brother...\"