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Jews who wish to marry in Reform, Conservative, or secular ceremonies must do so abroad. According to Central Bureau of Statistics figures, more than 32, citizens married outside the country between ; almost half were couples in which both husband and wife were Jews. In the government asked foreign consular officials to stop performing marriages in the country, citing potential legal problems for its citizens who marry in consular services.
In April the High Court instructed the government to inform it within three months of its position on recognizing marriages performed by officials of foreign embassies in the country; at year's end the government reportedly continued to review its policy.
On November 21, the High Court issued a ruling requiring the government to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in foreign jurisdictions see section 5. A law requiring the government to establish civil cemeteries has not been implemented adequately. The Protection of Holy Sites Law protects all holy sites, but the government has issued implementing regulations only for Jewish sites.
In Adalah petitioned the Supreme Court to compel the government to protect Muslim sites; it charged that all of the locations designated as holy sites were Jewish, and the government's failure to implement regulations had resulted in desecration and conversion of individual Muslim sites. Responding to a Supreme Court order to respond within 60 days, the government said on January 1 that it had appointed an interministerial committee to examine the administrative and budgetary management of holy sites.
The Supreme Court, which repeatedly rescheduled the initial hearing since , set it for May At year's end there were designated holy sites in the country, all of which were Jewish. According to representatives of Christian institutions, visa issuance rates for some of their religious workers significantly declined from rates in previous years. Religious workers based in Jerusalem or the occupied territories were denied entry or re-entry under a general tightening of government criteria for foreign nationals see section 2.
At year's end the government's stricter entry policies were unclear. The Knesset has not ratified the Fundamental Agreement establishing relations between the Holy See and Israel negotiated in Government negotiations with the Holy See addressed the continuation of tax exemptions for Roman Catholic institutions and property churches, monasteries, convents, educational, and social welfare organizations and the access of the institutions to Israeli courts.
Under current law, property disputes involving religious institutions are handled by the executive branch of the government. Further discussions were held on December Missionaries were allowed to proselytize, although offering or receiving material inducements for conversion, as well as converting persons under 18 years old remained illegal unless one parent was of the religion to which the minor wished to convert.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voluntarily refrained from proselytizing under a longstanding agreement with the government. In July the Messianic congregation in Arad published a letter in Iton HaTzvi that reported harassment by members of an ultra-Orthodox community.
In September the High Court heard a petition by ultra-Orthodox Jews seeking the right to demonstrate at the house of a family of Messianic Jews and reversal of a police decision prohibiting such a demonstration. At year's end there was no further information on a court ruling. According to Messianic Jews resident there, since the Gur Hassidim have demonstrated regularly in front of the homes of Christians and Messianic Jews in Arad to protest alleged Christian proselytizing by this group.
In interviews with Ha'aretz newspaper on November 14, the mayor and several officials of Arad objected to Messianic Jews in their city, but acknowledged having no legal basis to expel them. In December approximately ultra-Orthodox Jews disrupted the religious service of a Messianic congregation in Be'er Sheva, assaulting the congregation's pastor, damaging property, and harassing members of the congregation.

In June a Be'er Sheva magistrate's court rejected an appeal by the congregation for a restraining order against ultra-Orthodox protesters. At year's end there were no further developments. According to a spring poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, some 62 percent of Jewish citizens believed that the government should encourage Arab citizens to emigrate. During the campaign for the parliamentary elections in March, the Herut party used campaign posters depicting a traditionally veiled Arab woman in campaign posters captioned "This demographic will poison us.
On March 3, during a prayer service, three members of a mixed Jewish-Christian family from Jerusalem attacked the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. According to the police and witnesses, after barricading themselves inside, the attackers ignited firecrackers, 19 flammable canisters, and a number of bottles filled with flammable liquid. The attack resulted in a local riot, during which several police and protesters suffered minor injuries and police cars were burned.
On September 13, two attackers were convicted of conspiracy to commit a crime, arson, rioting, and disorderly conduct. In May vandals spray painted approximately 20 swastikas on the Ark, Torah scroll, and walls of the Great Synagogue in the city of Petah Tikva. Neo-Nazi graffiti was also sprayed on monuments honoring, and actual gravesites of, several well-known historical figures, including the grave of the country's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. On December 1, vandals destroyed property and painted swastikas on an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Acre.
In May Israeli youths celebrating Lag Ba'Omer, a holiday traditionally marked by lighting bonfires, allegedly attempted to burn an abandoned mosque in the northern city of Acre. According to press reports, they also spray painted "Death to Arabs" on neighboring buildings. The individuals claimed they were simply preparing a bonfire, but police found indications of attempted arson.
The case was closed at year's end with none of the individuals publicly identified. On June 28, approximately ultra-Orthodox Jews assaulted approximately 50 Christian tourists in a Jerusalem neighborhood, injuring three of them. Police arrested two attackers, and in October the case was being prepared for indictment.
The national public bus service operated sex-segregated transportation in and between cities for ultra-Orthodox Jews. On November 24, a group of ultra-Orthodox men reportedly attacked and beat a woman for refusing to move to the rear of a Jerusalem bus that was not officially sex-segregated. None of the attackers was arrested; however, at year's end the case was under investigation.
There were also incidents throughout the year in which ultra-Orthodox Jews threw rocks at motorists to protest their driving on the Sabbath. On November 23, according to a report from Adalah, the State Prosecutor's Office announced it would open a criminal investigation for racial incitement over an article in the Hassidic World magazine critically describing Muslims and Christians in insulting terms see section 2. In August police arrested Shimon Ben Haim and Victoria Shteinman for desecrating a Muslim holy site by throwing a pig's head, wrapped in a Keffiyeh with "Mohammed" written on it, into the courtyard of a mosque near Tel Aviv.
Ben Haim and Shteinman were subsequently convicted of insulting a religion.
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On December 6, Ben Haim was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment and Shteinman was sentenced to two months' community service. The law provides for these rights, and the government generally respected them in practice for citizens. See annex for discussion of restrictions on movement within the occupied territories, between the territories and Israel, and the construction of a security barrier.
Citizens generally were free to travel abroad and to emigrate, provided they had no outstanding military obligations and no administrative restrictions. The government may bar citizens from leaving the country based on security considerations. Citizens, including dual nationals, must enter and leave the country using their Israeli passports only.
In addition no citizen is permitted to travel to states officially at war with the country without government permission. Pursuant to the terms of his release after having served 18 years in prison on espionage and treason charges see section 2. On April 20, the Interior Minister extended these prohibitions for another year.
At year's end Vanunu's criminal trial on charges that he violated these restrictions in continued. In December the Interior Minister imposed a month travel ban on Israeli journalist and literary critic, Antwan Shalhat.
In January Adalah petitioned the High Court to revoke the ban, arguing it violated Shalhat's basic rights. In March on the recommendation of the court, which reviewed secret evidence in a meeting with government representatives, Adalah withdrew the petition but protested using secret evidence in the case. In the Knesset forbade parliamentarians from visiting enemy states without permission from the Interior Minister. The Interior Minister also called on the Foreign Minister to revoke their passports and asked the Attorney General for authority to restrict their international travel.
At year's end police investigations continued, but there was no action to bar them from leaving the country. The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law bars Palestinians from the occupied territories from acquiring residence or citizenship rights through marriage to Israelis or to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.
In July the Knesset amended the law so that Palestinian men aged 35 and older and women aged 25 and older were eligible for temporary visitor permits to visit spouses and family in Israel. The Mossawa Center, citing Ministry of Interior statistics, claimed that the law affected "at least 21, families," including couples with long-standing marriages whose requests for residence permits were pending.
Advocacy groups claimed that, despite the amendment, the law discriminated against Arab citizens and residents. In November during ongoing Supreme Court hearings on a petition by civil rights NGOs challenging this law, the government informed the court that since , 25 Palestinian spouses of Israeli Arabs had been involved in terrorist activity. In May the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the law, and in July the Knesset extended it for another six months see sections 1. During the year there were numerous credible reports of foreign nationals arbitrarily denied entry into the country or the occupied territories and subjected to harsh and abusive treatment.