israel and marriage (updated)

Only if both wife and husband are Jewish, the state of Israel legally acknowledges marriages.

Israel, whose Jewish population of 5.6 million accounts for 41 percent of worldwide Jewry, has obstructed intermarriage between its Jewish and Arab citizens by refusing to recognize such marriages unless they are performed abroad.

And there’s a new campaign now:

Israel has launched an advertising campaign urging Israelis to inform on Jewish friends and relatives abroad who may be in danger of marrying non-Jews.

No matter which religion or organization does things like that: I find it highly offensive, inhumane and wrong.

According to the campaign’s organizers, more than 200 Israelis rang a hot line to report names of Jews living abroad after the first TV advertisement was run on Wednesday. Callers left details of e-mail addresses and Facebook and Twitter accounts.

(Sources: SZ.de and alternet.org via fefe)