ISRAEL: Government Opposes Adoption By Gay Couples

The Times Of Israel reports:

The government announced on Sunday that there are no intentions to change the law and allow gay couples to adopt in Israel. In response to a High Court petition, the state said that it was opposed to allowing same-sex couples to adopt because it would place an “additional burden” on the child.

“The professional opinion of the Child Welfare Services supports preserving the existing situation” that the adopting couple be a man and a woman, the government wrote to the court. This “takes into account the reality of Israeli society and the difficulty it may entail with regard to the child being adopted.”

More from Haaretz:

Udi Ledergor, chairman of the Association of Israeli Gay Fathers, said the state has “declared war on gay families.” Time after time, gay families encounter cold-heartedness and stupidity by State Prosecutor’s Office, who object to every request and petition by gay families in their demands for equality in adoption, surrogacy, parental registration and family life, he added.

“It’s amazing that Israel is willing to spend enormous resources on legal procedures whose entire goal is to harass and abuse gay families, instead of directing those resources to improve the lives of its citizens, who only want equality before the law and state,” he said, vowing to continue the fight for same-sex couples.

And from the Jerusalem Post:



The government, or more precisely the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Affairs, represented by the state attorney’s office, does not even attempt to refute the basis of the claims that same-sex couples are discriminated against by the law.

The government’s position is not to to provide equality under the adoption law but it is willing to open the law to possible changes to allow unmarried common-law partners to adopt, as long as they are a male-female couple.