Newlyweds' Netanyahu protest goes viral
Or and Reut had to get married abroad to have a civil ceremony, and chose to share their frustration online, mocking PM's response to housing report in the process.
Or, 26, and Reut, 27, students at Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheba, got married on Friday in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The couple would have preferred to have a civil ceremony in Israel, but the law does not allow non-religious marriages.
Instead the two turned their nuptuals into a protest over the religious control of rites of passage in Israel, using Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response to a damning report on Israel's housing crisis, in which he said Iran was the most important issue facing the country.
"When we can't get married like we want in Israel, we don't for a moment forget life itself," read the sign held by the newlyweds in an image that went viral online. "The greatest to our lives right now is Iran arming itself with a nuclear weapon."
Following the wedding, they took a photograph holding a homemade sign – and after being posted on Facebook, the image was shared hundreds of times and drew thousands of comments.
The image is one of many recently posted online that mocked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response to the state comptroller's report on housing prices. Netanyahu wrote at the time on social media that "when we talk about the cost of living, I don't forget life itself. The greatest challenge to our lives is Iran arming itself with a nuclear weapon." The statement was later erased.
"We had the option of a religious wedding in Israel, but we don't believe in involving religion in the ceremony," Or told Ynet. "We wanted an essentially secular ceremony and one that was equal . . . We would have been happy to have a civil wedding in Israel, and the choice of Prague was made only because that wasn't an option."
Or added that the couple was primarily motivated by a belief in equality and feminism. They got married in Prague's city hall in the presence of friends who joined the trip.
"What was amazing about the wedding in Prague was that we could do whatever we want in the ceremony. It was very flexible and we could change it," said Reut. She said the Facebook post resonated with people "because it's related to the fact that we can't live like want to in Israel." She said that the sign had become a form of activism ahead of elections. "It looks like any protest we make or sign we hang won't reach as many people as this did," she said.
