The Supreme Court building in Jerusalem. File photo by Chris Hoare, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
2006Society
The High Court rules that the population registry must record marriages performed abroad.
On 21 November 2006 six of seven justices rule for five same-sex couples who married in Canada and asked to be registered as married.
The story in numbers.
5
couples petition the court in 2005
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67
justices in the majority
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43
years since the 1963 rule it follows
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Here is how it happened.
1963
A High Court ruling says the registry is only statistical.
The case is Funk-Schlesinger against the Minister of Interior. It holds that the registration official is not competent to examine the validity of a marriage.
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2005
Five couples ask the High Court to order their registration.
Each couple married in a civil ceremony in Canada and asked the Population Registry to record them as married. The registry refuses, saying marriages of this kind are not legally recognized in Israel.
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Aharon Barak, who wrote the main opinion. File photo by Jonathan Klinger, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
21 November 2006
The High Court grants the petition by a majority.
Six of seven justices rule that the official must register a marriage when shown a certificate, unless doing so is manifestly incorrect. The court says it decides on the official's authority, not on the validity of the marriage.
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The same ruling
Justice Rubinstein dissents and would leave the question to the Knesset.
He writes that registration involves a de facto recognition of same-sex marriages. He says such marriages are recognized in a small minority of countries.
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Here is why it matters.
The court rules on the registration official's authority, not on whether such marriages are valid in Israel. It follows a rule from 1963 that the registry's purpose is statistical.
Three more milestones to read next.
1993
The Israel Defense Forces lift restrictions on gay and lesbian soldiers.
Read the story
David Ben-Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence, 14 May 1948. File photo by Rudi Weissenstein, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1948
The Declaration of Independence promises equal rights to all.
Read the story
Salim Joubran. File photo by רדיומן, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
2004
Salim Joubran becomes Israel's first Arab justice with a permanent Supreme Court seat.
Read the story
Where each fact was read.
Sources read on 1 November 2026.