Israel won’t let Olympic gold medalist Dolgopyat marry

Artem Dolgopyat, Israel’s second-ever Olympic gold-medalist, cannot get married in the State of Israel, his mother revealed on Sunday.

During a radio interview on 103fm on Sunday, his mother, Angela, noted that she is not Jewish, meaning her children are also not Jewish, although she noted that Artem’s father is Jewish.

Israel has no provision for civil marriage, and citizens can only marry through the established religious institutions, such as the Chief Rabbinate, who will only marry members of the same religion.

The Dolgopyat family made aliyah from the Ukraine to give Artem better opportunities to progress in his discipline.

Asked by the radio interviewers when Artem might give her a grandchild, Angela said he has a girlfriend from Belarus with whom he has been living for three years, but said “the state won’t let him get married,” in reference to the lack of civil marriage in the country.

Some 9,000 couples every year register civil marriages performed abroad with Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority, although such couples have not been able to travel abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving many without recourse. Angela noted that it was difficult for Artem to travel because of the demanding requirements of his training.

Angela’s comments sparked off a debate on social media over the issue.

Labor MK Gilad Kariv, the former director of the Reform Movement in Israel, tweeted that “the right to get married in your country or in accordance with your conscience is not connected to Olympic medals or any other achievement,” but rather something which every country should enable for all its citizens.

“It is a basic right, or in short Artem you, a champion, will continue to bring medals and we will continue to fight strongly to bring you free choice in marriage and divorce,” wrote Kariv.

Although the Labor party and the Meretz party, both members of the governing coalition, are both in favor of civil marriage, their coalition agreements with Yesh Atid stipulate merely that the sides work to advance “a solution for partnership status for couples who cannot get married.”

The Yesh Atid – Yamina coalition agreement which takes precedence over all other agreements does not include any clauses about advancing civil marriage, and adds that no reforms will be enacted to the current status quo on religion and state issues unless there is agreement within the coalition to make such changes.