Religion and state

Leading complete equality in the burden.

• •We will institute equal service for all Israeli citizens that allows a contribution to security, society and the economy.
• •Here too, we will act with respect for different ways of life, but without giving up the basic principle of equality in the burden.

Legislating a civil marriage law and allowing freedom of choice in marriage and divorce.

• •We will allow every citizen to marry and divorce as they choose, in a civil or religious ceremony, regardless of religion, sex or origin.
• •The state will recognize every track equally and ensure that even those not recognized by the Rabbinate can exercise their right to family life.
• •In addition, we will allow civil divorce for those who want it, and lead solutions that make this possible even for those who married in the religious track.

Breaking the Rabbinate's monopoly on conversion and kashrut, and advancing equal services.

• •We will open these fields to allow transparency and free choice.
• •We will recognize conversion through non-Orthodox tracks as well.
• •We will lead a kashrut reform that ends the Rabbinate's monopoly and lets businesses operate in their own way, transparently toward their customers.
• •We will apply clear rules for subsidizing religious services, so that a subsidized body is required to provide service transparently and without discrimination or exclusion.
• •We will ensure full freedom of choice in burial matters: every person will have the right to choose how their body is handled after death, and the state will fund this equally.
• •We will work for equal subsidy of all streams and religions, to advance the liberal streams of Judaism and to develop ties with world Jewry.

Fighting for a free public space and advancing public transportation on Shabbat.

• •We will ensure public transportation that operates every day of the week and connects all of Israel's cities, thus allowing reduced reliance on private cars and giving freedom of movement to all.
• •As for transportation within localities, local authorities will be given the ability to adapt the arrangements to the character of the community.
• •We will set clear rules for the use of the public space that will ensure a free space without coercion or exclusion.
• •Within these rules, we will give local authorities powers to set policy for use of the public space according to the character of the communities and their needs.

Fighting religious coercion and discrimination in the IDF, in the public space and in the education system.

• •The Democrats will be the spearhead of the fight against religious coercion and discrimination.
• •We will fight religious coercion in the public space, in the army and in the education system with all our might.
• •We will strengthen state education and ensure education for democratic and liberal values, and prevent the penetration of religious-conservative and messianic values into the state education system.
• •We will stop the exclusion of women in the IDF: the integration of religious soldiers must not come at the expense of the women who serve, who are an integral part of the most important units defending the country.