Age of Sexual Consent - Israel
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ISRAEL
Update November, 2000:
Age of consent for homosexual relations lowered
(November 2) - On Tuesday, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Association
of Homosexuals and
Lesbians issued an unusual press release, announcing that the Knesset had passed an
amendment more than three
months earlier, reducing the legal age for consensual homosexual relations from 18 to 16.
The law establishes for the first time a uniform legal age for consensual sex applying to
both heterosexuals and
homosexuals. The provision was formulated by the Justice Ministry in the context of a
sweeping reform of
sex-related offenses in the Penal Code, known in its entirety as Amendment 58, which
passed the mandatory
three Knesset plenary readings and was also discussed on three separate occasions and at
length in the Knesset
Law Committee, headed by MK Amnon Rubinstein (Meretz).
Yet, when asked about the amendment that applies mainly to homosexuals, Rubinstein was
unaware of such
a provision. In the 85 pages of minutes of the committee meetings, there is no mention of
homosexuals and
lesbians, and no discussion of the change in the law as it applies to them. No one in the
committee seemed to
realize it was there.
In all fairness to the Knesset, it should be stressed that the amendment contains several
important and complex
reforms, some of them dealing with burning issues such as the import of women and their
forced employment as
prostitutes, a phenomenon for which Israel has sustained severe international criticism.
Furthermore, the law does not explicitly refer to homosexuals per se, but to "acts of
sodomy," which can also apply to heterosexuals. Literally speaking, the
amendment legalizes acts of sodomy between consenting people aged 16 to 18. The Justice
Ministry exploited the broad and complex legislation to pass the provision with as little
fuss and bother as possible.
Similarly, in 1988, the government abolished the decades-old ban homosexual relations of
any kind by including it in another broad reform of the Penal Code that was being
legislated at the time.
The ministry's strategy was endorsed by the Association of Homosexuals and Lesbians and
ACRI as the best course of action. "We considered the possibility of establishing a
lobby to publicly support the legislation," former legal adviser Dori Spivak told The
Jerusalem Post. "In the end, we decided to keep a low profile."
In fact they ended up keeping such a low profile that it took them three months to realize
the law had passed.
According to Luba Fein, the director-general of the Association of Homosexuals and
Lesbians, the prime importance of the amendment is in the realm of principle.
"This is one more area in which we have established equality with the heterosexual
community," she said.
For Spivak, equality is more than an abstract principle. It is tantamount to legitimacy.
"Many homosexual youths suffer from such strong feelings of inferiority and
humiliation that they suffer severe emotional problems," he said. "One of
the ways of coping with these situations is by telling them that they are equal. The
educational message conveyed by the law is very important." One of the arguments
against lowering the age for homosexuals is that some youths, who waver between the
heterosexual and homosexual worlds, will end up being heterosexual if society discourages
them from having homosexual relations during these two allegedly formative adolescent
years.
Spivak and Yakir presented data from the Council of Europe in 1995, which showed that 22
out of 31 countries set a uniform age for sexual relations for heterosexuals and
homosexuals. In Malta, Holland, Portugal, and Spain, the age was 12. In Germany, Iceland,
Italy, San Marino, and Slovenia, the age was 14. In the Czech Republic, Denmark, France,
Greece,
Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden, the age was 15.
MK Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism), another Knesset Law Committee member who did not
realize that Amendment 58 liberalized homosexual sexual activity, considers that "The
amendment was made public in order to corrupt children."
"This is Sodom and Gomorrah," he said. "And then people want to know why
Jews are being killed!"
Source: http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/11/02/News/News.14754.html
hi. my name is Uri Katzir, and i am the law student that wrote to you about the israeli penal code and age of consent in Israel. i could see your fast update, but i was a little disapointed to see that my name was censored. If it's not too much trouble for you, please add my name: "Hello, my name is Uri Katzir,..." and not "Hello, my name is --,..." like it is now on your site. i will thank you for the credit. after all, that information was my contribution. keep up the good job! katzir_h@zahav.net.il
EDITOR: Sorry. Our first rule is to protect the privacy of contributors.
Unless we are TOLD specifically that it is okay to release their name and
information, we do NOT.
hello. my name is --, and i am studying law (3rd year) in Tel-Aviv university in
Israel. I am also very interested about age of consent all over the world, I am currently
writing a paper about that. I can update you about some of the foreign countries, and I
can tell you all about Israeli law. I will now tell you briefly about the Israeli law, and
I will be happy to answer any question you might have.
the Israeli Penal Code of 1977 (former name: Criminal Law act, 1936) is very clear about this subject. "sexual intercourse" is penetration of any organ of a person's body or penetration of objects to the female's vegina. (s. 345(c) to the penal code)
"deviate sexual intercourse" is penetration of the male sexual organ to the anus or the mouth of another person(male or female), or penetration of objects to a person's anus."penetration" is penetration, however slight. this is the point to make it clear: penetration of body organs (other than male sexual organ) to a person's anus (like fingers, tongs, etc') is not by definition sexual intercourse neither deviate sexual intercourse, hence legal from age of 14.
sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse is forbiden if the victim is under 14 years of age. his/her consent is irrelevant. this is statutory rape, and the offender is to be in jail for 4-16 years.sexual intercourse with females who are 14-16 years of age is legal if the performer is less then 2 years older or younger than the victim (s. 353). otherwise it is an offence, and the offender will be in jail for up to 5 years (s. 346(a)). age of total consent: 16 (for "sexual intercourse"), and age diffrences between the guy and the girl is no longer relevant.
for example: a man 30 years old can sleep with a girl 16 years old, but not younger. a man who is 17 years old can sleep with a girl who is 15 years old (2 years older than her - s. 353). nobody can sleep with a younger girl than 14 years old, no matter what his age is.
"deviate sexual intercourse" is forbiden until the victim is 18 years or older. from that point there is no differance how old the performer is (s. 347). if the performer and the victim are the same age, it will not be legal for deviate sexual intercourse. a person who perform deviate sexual intercourse on another person who is less than 18 will be jailed for up to 5 years, even if he is as young as the victim. this definition includes hetro-sexual anal or oral sex, and also homo-sexual sex (anal or oral). see definition of "deviate sexual sex".
to conclude, your information about Israel is not updated.
male-female sex is legel from age 16 (or 14 if the age differance is less then 2 years between the two partners).
lesbians can have "sex intercourse" (oral sex between females and inserting objects to the vegina) from age 16 or 14 (if the age differance is less than 2 years, again).
anal sex or oral sex to male (inserting the male sexual organ to a mouth) is forbiden until age 18.
so the right numbers to write in the chart are: 14/16 18 14/16
this is about everything there is to it. i was glad to find your site, keep it up, you helped me a lot with my paper. I am here to answer any question.
Source: http://www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay/world.htm
ISRAEL
LAWS:
1. Homosexual activity is legal, the age of sexual consent is 16 for all. Also
exempts consensual homosexual sex involving youths aged 14 and 15 from prosecution, as
long as the age difference between the partners is no more than three years.
2. Allows homosexuals in its military.
3. Has a national gay rights law that bans some anti-gay discrimination , including
employment.
4. The Civil Service Commission extends spousal benefits and pensions to the partners of
homosexual employees.
NOTE: 1. Nahum Rakover, Deputy Attorney General is very outspokenly anti-gay.
2. Yigal Bibi (National Religious Party) is a very outspokenly anti-gay member of
Parliament (Knesset).
3. Rabbi Israel Maya is an extremely anti-gay member of Parliament. He says homosexuals
should be executed.
4. Michal Eden (Meretz Party), elected to the Tel Aviv City Council in 1998, is openly
lesbian.
5. Prof. Ozer Schild, Chairman of the Education Ministry`s Pedagogic Secretariat, in Tel
Aviv, is very anti-gay.
6. Shlomo Benizri, Minister of Health, is extremely anti-gay.
7. Rabbi Haim Druckman, Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, Michael Eitan, and Zevulun Orlev are
anti-gay members of Parliament (Knesset).
COURT:1. The High Court ruled that the partner of a gay employee at EL AL, Israel`s
national airline, is entitled to free airline tickets just as the spouse of any
heterosexual employee is.
2. The High Court recognized a lesbian as the adoptive mother of the four-year-old son of
her same-sex partner, and ordered the Interior Ministry to register the adoption.
Old Information Added 03/2001:
From: http://www.pangaea.org/street_children/mideast/israel.htm
SNS News Service
18 September 1996
New Child Porno Law
Due to the increased number of reported cases of child pornography and prostitution
involving minors, a new law is
being passed by the Knesset. The main points of the law will make it a criminal
offense for anyone engaging in paid sex with a minor. The age of a "minor" will
be raised from the present 16-years- old to 18. Ms. Yehudit Karp, a Senior
Advisor in the Justice Ministry, stated that the law must be enacted immediately as was
done in most western states. She emphasized the severity of this growing problem in
Israel. The law will carry a mandatory prison sentence for any violator.
(Galei Tzahal/Army Radio.. 9/18..7:45am).