The Supreme Court accepted the petition of the Reform Center, the Association for LGBT Rights, the Open House for Pride and Tolerance in Jerusalem, and the Association of Proud Fathers and Two LGBT Couples and ruled that the Adoption Law should be interpreted to eliminate longstanding discrimination in adoption against LGBT couples
Attorney Riki Shapira Rosenberg, from the Reform Center for Religion and State, who represented the petitioners:
"For over seven years we have been fighting for LGBT couples so that they can realize their dream of becoming a family through adoption. We welcome the ruling, which accepted the petitioners' position, according to which same-sex couples and other couples should not be discriminated against with regard to adoption. The court ruled that the law stating that "there is no adoption except by a man and a woman" should be interpreted as applying to same-sex couples, since the purpose of the Adoption Law is to ensure the best interests of the child, and in this regard there is no difference between LGBT families and heterosexual families. Once again, it has been proven that the one who defends human rights in general and the LGBT community in particular is the Supreme Court."
The Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance said: "We welcome the ruling that erases yet another expression of longstanding institutional discrimination against the gay community, and congratulate Shai and Shahar and Zafrir and Edo, who after years of legal struggle will be able to expand their families. A big thank you to Adv. Riki Shapira and the Reform Center for Religion
and State who led the petition.
These are complex and difficult times for Israeli society. We demand that even at this time, the political echelon not stop promoting the rights of the gay community. Just as the battlefield does not distinguish between us, there is no justification for the law book to distinguish between us. We all hope that we will know quieter, more loving, more egalitarian days."
Background:
The Adoption Law states that "there is no adoption except by a man and his wife together." In doing so, the law discriminates against LGBT couples who can only adopt children that heterosexual couples do not want. These are usually older children or children with special needs.
The first petition on the subject was filed in 2016, following which the state undertook to amend the Adoption Law within a year and a half so that discrimination against LGBT couples would be eliminated.In 2019, a memorandum of law was published on the subject,
but it was not promoted. As such, the current petition was filed in 2021 demanding that the term "man and wife" in the Adoption Law be interpreted to include same-sex couples. Among the petitioners are two couples who wish to adopt children in Israel.
After the previous government said that there was no political feasibility for amending the legislation but that they had no objection to the petition being scheduled for hearing before the High Court of Justice, a hearing on the petition was scheduled in the summer of 2022, but it was canceled in light of the fall of the government and the elections held in late 2022.
The first hearing on the petition was held in August 2023. According to the state's position submitted prior to the hearing, the way to go is to wait for a legislative amendment, but because the Minister of Justice believes that there is no political feasibility for amending legislation and due to the opposition of the Minister of Social Affairs (who claimed that this "adds complexities and difficulties to the child," contrary to the positions of the professionals in his ministry), there is a legal anchor that will enable us to accept the expansive interpretation that the petitioners are seeking. The State, as well as the petitioners in this case, insists that this is also required by virtue of the principle of the best interest of the child – to provide a home for the child regardless of the sexual orientation of the parents.
Now a ruling has been handed down that accepts the petitioners' position and states that the discriminatory policy must cease and the law must be interpreted in a way that will also permit adoption by LGBT couples.
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