Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., September 06, 2007 Elul 23, 5767 | | Israel Time: 22:59 (EST+7)
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Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann. (Tess Scheflan)
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Last update - 15:03 30/08/2007
Gay rights groups: Justice Min. is setting us back 30 years
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent

Gay rights groups on Thursday fiercely criticized Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann for bowing to pressure by religious parties in his decision to redraft inheritance laws.

The revised bill would preclude homosexual couples from inheritance laws that apply to people in common-law marriages.

The chairman of the Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association, Mike Hamel, said that "since the beginning of his miserable term, the Justice Minister has been resolute to set Israel back 30 years."

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Friedmann's new bill contradicts the recommendations of a public commission headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel. The commission was appointed in 1999 to reform the 1965 inheritance law.

In the spring of 2006, the committee proposed to change the law by changing the definition of a couple from "husband and wife" in order that it apply to both gay and heterosexual couples.

The minister decided to limit the proposed inheritance law to "a man and a woman who lead a family life in a joint household." The original bill, which the committee approved, however, proposed to regard all "partners who live together in a common household" as each other's legal inheritors.

Friedmann did not consult Turkel or any of the committee's other members before changing the bill, Haaretz has learned.

Hamel said that "it is disheartening to see that the Justice Minister, whose role is to promote the equality before the law, is disenfranchising the gay community. We strongly condemn his decision to redraft inheritance laws, which will severely affect homosexual couples."

Friedmann decided to revise the bill, which already had been approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on July 22, after meeting with Minister Meshulam Nahari from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party last month. Representatives from the rabbinic court system also attended the meeting.

The Knesset plenum is expected to vote on a preliminary reading of the altered bill in November, after the legislators reassemble for the winter session in October.

Dror Mizrahi, chairman of "Our Colors", a gay rights youth group affiliated with Meretz, said: "This is an unenlightened alliance of unenlightened people. Minister Friedmann and Shas have joined hands to discredit the gay public of Israel. Friedmann has already declared war on democracy, and this is yet another phase in the battle he wages against Israel's democratic character."

In November 2004, the Nazareth District Court ruled in a landmark case, allowing a male partner of a deceased man to inherit their apartment, which belonged to the deceased man, even in the absence of a will. The judges ruled by a majority vote that the inheritance law of 1965 "did not refer to single sex couples not because it sought to disenfranchise them, but because such a phenomenon did not exist at the time."

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, decided not to petition to the High Court in order to reverse the ruling, and announced that in terms of property and financial matters, homosexual couples would enjoy the same status as heterosexual couples.

The Turkel committee assumed that the appellation "husband and wife", in terms of family life, can be applied to gay couples as well. But this broad definition cannot be reinstated in the new law, voted upon today, when gay couples are ubiquitous. Moreover, the Nazareth District Court precedent is not binding, because it has not been ratified by the High Court.

A Justice Ministry spokesperson said that "the new inheritance law is part of the legal code and is transparent. It should be interpreted in the same way as its earlier version."
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  1.   How Utterly Proposterous 07:00  |  Bradq 30/08/07
  2.   Good thing this was changed but not enough 08:05  |  Dee Roo 30/08/07
  3.   Supported Friedman totally , until three minutes ago... 08:09  |  Mea 30/08/07
  4.   Regression...... 08:17  |  Esther 30/08/07
  5.   were here and were queer 08:38  |  judah 30/08/07
  6.   Anti Semetic 08:51  |  Gordon 30/08/07
  7.   This is why we march in Jerusalem 08:53  |  SJ 30/08/07
  8.   A bull in a china shop 09:19  |  Dani Reiss 30/08/07
  9.   Disgusting 09:20  |  Nadav 30/08/07
  10.   bigot 09:39  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 30/08/07
  11.   All non-traditional couples deserve decency of determining heirs 09:42  |  Tova M. 30/08/07
  12.   No-one chooses to be gay 09:51  |  Clickfool 30/08/07
  13.   Next year in Jerusalem 10:11  |  Simon 30/08/07
  14.   Whom will they sell out next to stay in the saddle? 10:28  |  Tom Smitsloo 30/08/07
  15.   We need to find some Shasniks having "fun" in public toilets 10:43  |  Israeli 30/08/07
  16.   NOT EVERYTHING IS LOST IN ERETZ ISRAEL 10:43  |  indrajaya 30/08/07
  17.   to Clickfool # 6 10:55  |  indrajaya 30/08/07
  18.   enough, already 11:07  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 30/08/07
  19.   Shas mole 11:21  |  Dani Reiss 30/08/07
  20.   Make A Will .... 11:47  |  Terry 30/08/07
  21.   Bigot 11:52  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 30/08/07
  22.   Another Bigotted Homophobe Teaches us Morality? 11:56  |  Hani 30/08/07
  23.   fundamentalist 12:01  |  harry 30/08/07
  24.   Indrajaya 12:41  |  Josh Goldman 30/08/07
  25.   Israel: A light unto the nations? 13:02  |  Danny 30/08/07
  26.   Simon and Indrajaya 13:04  |  Nik Miller 30/08/07
  27.   Beautiful Law 13:12  |  Louis 30/08/07
  28.   Israel 5767 / 2007? hell no, it`s the dark ages ! 13:12  |  Sara 30/08/07
  29.   Indiraja 13:37  |  Bibi 30/08/07
  30.   to Indrajaya # 17 13:43  |  Yo 30/08/07
  31.   to Indrajaya # 17 13:45  |  Yonni Vassalo 30/08/07
  32.   The Torah Made Israel 13:47  |  Dave 30/08/07
  33.   #12 clikko has it the wrong way round 13:50  |  victor hardman 30/08/07
  34.   To indrayaja 14:22  |  Mark B. 30/08/07
  35.   Separation of religion and state please! 14:24  |  Jakob 30/08/07
  36.   I can only hope 14:30  |  rose 30/08/07
  37.   Jakob #35 14:35  |  Avi Yerushalmi 30/08/07
  38.   Serve in IDF, do not inherit 14:40  |  W 30/08/07
  39.   No. 17, indajaya 14:43  |  W 30/08/07
  40.   Hani the Palestinian Vagabond 14:49  |  honey 30/08/07
  41.   Danny 14:52  |  Justicia 30/08/07
  42.   to clickfool 14:53  |  itsik 30/08/07
  43.   # 37 Avi 14:55  |  Jakob 30/08/07
  44.   Blatant discrimination 15:00  |  Ruth Broch 30/08/07
  45.   #15 15:00  |  itsik 30/08/07
  46.   to inrajaya 15:04  |  itsik 30/08/07
  47.   #42 Itsik; modern medicine has proved homsexuality IS biological 15:08  |  Alice of Wonderland 30/08/07
  48.   louis...i have 15:15  |  itsik 30/08/07
  49.   Shas, please act upon True Knowledge rather than on prejudices 15:19  |  Alice of Wonerland 30/08/07
  50.   Jakob #43 15:20  |  Avi Yerushalmi 30/08/07
  51.   #27 Louis 15:32  |  Harald 30/08/07
  52.   #27 Louis 15:33  |  Alice of Wonderland 30/08/07
  53.   Dave & Avi Yerushalmi 15:34  |  Bibi 30/08/07
  54.   #37 Avi 15:47  |  Harald 30/08/07
  55.   It is evil to persecute innocent gay women and men 15:49  |  AV 30/08/07
  56.   LOL! There are MANY gay Muslims! 16:06  |  Isa 30/08/07
  57.   #54 Isa 16:24  |  Silvienne 30/08/07
  58.   Harald Bibi and Jakob 16:41  |  Avi Yerushalmi 30/08/07
  59.   time is on our side...... 16:44  |  judah 30/08/07
  60.   #37 16:58  |  Cc 30/08/07
  61.   Haaretz certainly knows how to play the GAY card ... 17:00  |  pace306 30/08/07
  62.   Labelling behaviour 17:10  |  Sam 30/08/07
  63.   Isreal becoming more like Arabs 17:21  |  begog 30/08/07
  64.   The Tora permits homosexuality 17:49  |  AV 30/08/07
  65.   The Tora permits homosexuality 2 17:53  |  AV 30/08/07
  66.   Tora permits homosexuality 3 17:56  |  AV 30/08/07
  67.   Tora permits homosexuality 4 18:01  |  AV 30/08/07
  68.   #60 Begog 18:05  |  Silvienne 30/08/07
  69.   But there is no good reason to persecute gay Muslims 18:07  |  Isa 30/08/07
  70.   Israel is a Jewish nation-state and must have the Jewish religion 18:21  |  AV 30/08/07
  71.   Shas 18:33  |  Avi Yerushalmi 30/08/07
  72.   Equity in Law 18:56  |  Jim 30/08/07
  73.   Shasocracy be damned 18:57  |  Shelley 30/08/07
  74.   All Of These Definitions Stink 19:03  |  Jeff Northridge 30/08/07
  75.   Dror Mizrachi of "OUR COLOURS" nogal.... 19:08  |  Mary 30/08/07
  76.   Good work, Minister 19:15  |  Nathan 30/08/07
  77.   judah # 59 Yeah, But Why Wait? 19:24  |  Jeff Northridge 30/08/07
  78.   re #11 `All non-traditional couples...` 19:27  |  Colin Wright 30/08/07
  79.   #68 19:27  |  Cc 30/08/07
  80.   re #12 `No-one chooses to be gay` 19:32  |  Colin Wright 30/08/07
  81.