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Israeli Citizens allowed to marry through Utah Online Marriage
August 6, 2023 – Israel recognizes marriage of same-sex immigrant couple who married online in Russia
Israel has recognized the marriage of a female couple who fled Russia and will grant new immigrant status to one of the two women. – Haaretz (non-paywalled link to article on Forward above)
March 7, 2023 – Supreme Court allows civil marriage in Israel via Zoom
Israel’s Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by the state against an administrative court ruling instructing the registrar of the Population Registry to record marriages of couples who married through video conference calls and received marriage certificates from the State of Utah in the US. – Globes
March 7, 2023 – Israel must recognize online marriages conducted via Utah, Supreme Court rules.
Landmark ruling upholds decision allowing Israeli couples to wed in civil ceremony without leaving country. – The Times of Israel
March 7, 2023 – Israel’s High Court de facto recognizes online civil marriages. The Supreme Court ruled against the state’s appeal of online civil marriages conducted remotely through Utah. – The Jerusalem Post
On September 29, 2022 – A Jerusalem District Court ordered the Interior Ministry on Thursday to recognize marriages conducted over video-conferencing through the US state of Utah, in another step toward easing access to civil marriage in the State of Israel.
On July 10, 2022, the high court struck down the ban that disallowed registration of online marriages performed via Utah County digital marriage licenses. This is an exciting development as it allows a whole new landscape of marriages to be legally recognized in Israel. Utah Online Weddings and Rev. Heron are very excited to start helping couples in Israel with their leap over the bureaucratic hurdles that have been previously in their way.
Read more about the legal decision to allow registration for Utah online marriages:
Israel has long been a place where it can be notoriously difficult to get married, especially if a couple is same sex, of mixed religion, atheist, or has some other hurdle. For decades, there has been no option for a simple civil marriage, and so thousands of couples every year have resorted to destination weddings where they get married in another country and then return to register their new relationship status in Israel.
At the height of the pandemic, there was no option for travel, and several hundred couples found that they could marry online with a digital Utah wedding license. The latest statistics from Utah County showed that of the 500-some couples who wed in this manner, nearly 30% were a same sex relationship.
The hopes and dreams of these couples ground to a halt within a few months, however, when a court decision from Israel in January of 2021 halted the registration of online marriages performed with these Utah wedding licenses.
February 18, 2022 – Hiddush – Civil Marriage – are we getting closer?
March 8, 2021 – Washington Post – Barred from marrying by the rabbis, Israelis find a pandemic workaround — in Utah
January 19, 2021 – Salt Lake Tribune – Marriages online: Utah County’s system a hit with Israeli couples
In the News – Legal Online Weddings in Israel
March 29, 2023 – KSL News – Utah’s online marriage licensing gets attention all over the world
March 17, 2023 – Deseret News – Israel must recognize marriages performed online through Utah County portal
March 17, 2013 – Jewish Insider – The Mormon bureaucrat in Utah changing marriage in Israel
September 30, 2022 – NPR, Morning Edition – A court in Israel recognizes online civil marriages as valid
September 29, 2022 – Jerusalem Post – Jerusalem court recognizes couples in Zoom ‘Utah weddings’ to be registered as married
September 29, 2022 – The Times of Israel – In step toward civil marriage, Jerusalem court accepts ‘Zoom weddings’ from Utah
July 17, 2022 – Jerusalem Post – Utah marriage ruling isn’t civil marriage in Israel, but it’s progress
July 16, 2022 – Jerusalem Post – Lod court’s Utah marriage ruling is a landmark for civil marriage – opinion
July 11, 2022 – The Jewish Chronicle – Fury of orthodox leaders as Israeli courts allow secular weddings in Israel for the first time
July 10, 2022 – i24 News – Israeli Court Recognizes Online Civil Marriage as Valid
July 10, 2022 – Jerusalem Post – Israeli court decision recognizes marriages performed in Utah by video
July 10, 2022 – Hiddush – Court orders the State of Israel to register Utah online marriages