A new regulation issued by the Interior Ministry discriminates against migrants residing in Israel who are common-law partners of Israeli citizens. The new regulation states that such migrants will be eligible for temporary resident status only three years after they file a request. At the same time, migrants residing here who are lawfully married to Israeli citizens are eligible for this status after 6 months only. With this regulation, the authorities are discriminating against couples who cannot marry, such as same-sex couples and couples of different religions, and those who do not want to.
ACRI Attorney Oded Feller sent a letter to Yaakov Ganot, head of the Population Registry, on February 17 arguing that “the Interior Ministry is not upholding its constitutional obligations to uphold the right to family and right to equality.” ACRI demands that common-law couples and married couples receive the same rights, and that the new regulation not be implemented.
