Rights9/14/2026

Bennett’s Party Proposes Civil Unions and Expanded LGBTQ Equality

Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party has presented a plan for civil partnership registration and broader legal protections for LGBTQ people in Israel. These are political commitments rather than enacted laws, and it remains unclear which measures would survive coalition negotiations.

Key facts

•Political plan by Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party
•First published: September 14, 2026
•Proposed Basic Law: Equality
•Proposed amendment to the Interpretation Law
•Proposed civil registration through the Interior Ministry
•Proposed statutory ban on conversion therapy

Civil partnership without religious conditions

The plan would create a civil partnership track through the Interior Ministry, regardless of religion, gender or sexual orientation. Registered partners would receive all the rights and obligations of married couples, although the proposal does not call the arrangement “civil marriage.” It also supports advancing the “Sagi Laws,” a legislative package addressing matters including civil marriage, parenthood registration, housing discrimination and hate crimes.

Equality and protection from discrimination

Beyachad proposes a Basic Law: Equality that would protect equality before the law and expressly prohibit violations of rights based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It also proposes amending the Interpretation Law so that statutory bans on discrimination cover discrimination against LGBTQ people. Similar bills have previously been introduced in the Knesset but were not enacted.

Conversion therapy and public funding

The party promises a comprehensive statutory ban on conversion therapy. A 2022 Health Ministry circular exposed licensed professionals to sanctions for offering, advertising or performing such treatment, but it did not impose a general legislative ban. The plan would also establish permanent, designated funding for LGBTQ services through the Budget Law rather than leaving it dependent on changing government priorities.

A political proposal, not current law

Some LGBTQ rights have already advanced through court judgments, government decisions and administrative changes, including access to surrogacy for male couples and single men. However, Israel has not enacted the civil partnership framework, Basic Law protection or comprehensive conversion-therapy ban described in this plan. The source says the principal test will be whether these commitments remain intact during future coalition negotiations.

What this means for you

If enacted, the plan could allow couples who cannot or do not wish to marry through religious institutions to register their relationship in Israel and obtain the rights and duties of married couples. It could also strengthen protections against LGBTQ discrimination and prohibit conversion therapy by law. For now, it does not change anyone’s legal status because the measures remain proposals.

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