“The Law of Return deals with the ingathering of all members of the Jewish people,” Saar wrote to his ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority,“In this regard, I see no reason to distinguish between Jews married in heterosexual marriages and Jews legally married abroad to a same-sex spouse. Both are Jews in terms of the Law of Return.”
In the last few years, the Israeli government has only naturalized non-Jewish persons whose same-sex spouses were Jewish after threats were made to send petitions the Supreme Court. It appears those threats were not in vain and helped push this new directive forward.
Israel does not allow same-sex couples to marry inside the country but does recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other countries. Furthermore, gay people openly serve in the Israel's parliament and military. The Israeli Supreme Court also grants family rights, such as inheritance and survivors' benefits, to people that are gay.The country as a whole is actually quite tolerant of gay people.
I have to admit that learning all this was a bit surprising to me. Unfortunately, most countries in the Middle East are automatically labeled as being homophobic and bigoted. It is important to remember that countries from all parts of the world are moving forward with human equality, and that anyone can be an LGBT ally regardless of where they are from.
