Israeli gay couples petition high court for marriage recognition

[davidinalameda]

http://www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=15556&sd=03/29/05

Two gay couples petitioned Israel's supreme court on Monday to overrule a decision by the interior ministry and recognize their 2003 Canadian marriages, an Israeli human rights group said. Yoav Leff of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said the group submitted the petitions on behalf of Yossi Ben-Ari and Loren Shuman, and Yosef Bar-Lev and Yaron Lahav, who were married in Toronto in November 2003. Leff said the petitions were submitted after the interior ministry refused to recognize the couples' unions. "In recent weeks we asked the interior ministry to change the status of these people from single to married," he said. "They refused, saying marriages between individuals of the same sex are not recognized in Israel."