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Comments (0)Israel’s Knesset passed a civil union bill, although it is expected to help only a small percentage of Israelis who do not want a religious wedding.
The bill introduced by the Yisrael Beiteinu party passed its second and third readings during a midnight vote Monday. The lawmakers’ vote was 56-4; lawmakers from the religious Shas and United Torah Judaism parties opposed the bill and did not attend the vote.
Yisrael Beiteinu had promised to pass a civil union bill during its first year in the government; the year ends next week.
The new law will allow Israelis without a religious affiliation to register a civil marriage with a special couplehood registrar, a position that will be created. It will help about 10 percent of couples who want a civil marriage, according to reports.
Under current law, only civil marriages performed abroad are recognized in Israel.
Several lawmakers, saying the new law does not go far enough, filibustered the vote for nearly three hours.
Chairs Thrown at Women of the Wall
Two haredi men were arrested after allegedly throwing chairs at women preparing to pray at the Western Wall.
The women, from the Women of the Wall organization, had gathered Tuesday to mark the first day of the month of Nisan.
The women had not yet put on tefillin, which in the past has upset ultra-Orthodox visitors to the wall. About 10 chairs were thrown, according to reports.
The police reportedly sent about 40 officers to protect the women.
Palestinians Riot in Jerusalem
Palestinians rioted in Jerusalem as part of a “day of rage” declared by Hamas.
The rioters threw stones at police and set fire to tires and garbage containers in eastern Jerusalem on Tuesday. Police in riot gear fired back with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Some 60 Palestinians and 14 police officers have been injured in the violence, according to reports. Dozens of the rioters have been arrested.
By afternoon most of the violence had subsided, except in the Shuafat neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem.
The day of rage was called to protest the rededication Monday night of the ancient Hurva synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. There were no violent incidents during the rededication.
“We call on the Palestinian people to regard Tuesday as a day of rage against the occupation’s procedures in Jerusalem against al-Aksa mosque,” Hamas said in a statement, Haaretz reported.
The violence also is linked reportedly to Israel’s approval of a 1,600-apartment building plan in an eastern Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood.
About 3,000 police were placed on high alert and deployed throughout Jerusalem, according to reports.
Israel continued to limit access to the Temple Mount to Arab men over the age of 50 and Muslim women. Jews and other visitors and tourists were not permitted to visit the Temple Mount.
Also Tuesday, Hamas’ acting parliamentary speaker Dr. Ahmed Bahar, called on Palestinians to launch terror attacks on Israel inside the 1967 borders in response to the “desecration of al-Aksa.”
Overnight Monday two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the controversial Jewish-owned Beit Yonatan building in Silwan, which caused some damage.
A coalition of rightist Jewish organizations—including Temple Institute, the Organization for the Renewal of the Temple, Women in Green, the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation and Israel National Radio-Arutz Sheva—were set to mark Tuesday as International Temple Mount Awareness Day. The purpose of the day was to draw attention to the fact that Jews are limited in their visitation on the Temple Mount and are not permitted to pray there.