Source: Ha'aretz and Reuters
JERUSALEM -- Israel's attorney general said on Sunday that same sex-couples will be allowed to adopt children that are not biologically linked to either partner.

Meni Mazuz decided that gay adults will be allowed to adopt the biological or adopted child of their partner and, in some cases, even adopt children not connected to them.

Courts in the Jewish state in the past have only allowed gay adults to adopt the child of their partner, the justice ministry said.

"It was decided there is no legal hindrance from approving same-sex couples, or one of the partners, to adopt an unrelated child who is not the child of either partner," the justice ministry said in a statement.

Mazuz's decision marks a watershed in granting equal rights to gays and lesbians in the sphere of family law. Until now, Mazuz had confined his activities to social and financial areas only.

The latest session on the issue was held at the request of Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog, who has made promoting the possibility of same-sex adoption a goal. In the past few months a number of same-sex couples have applied to adopt through the DCW, and Herzog decided to view these cases as precedents for future same-sex adoptions. In 2006 a total of 270 children were adopted in Israel: 100 from within Israel, and 170 from abroad.

"I welcome the decision," Herzog said yesterday. "There is no reason why same-sex couples who meet the criteria for adoption should not be able to join the process of adoption and of parenthood. We must adapt to the spirit of the times and the changes that are afoot."

The decision means there is no longer a legal bar to approval of a homosexual or lesbian couple's request to adopt a child who is not the offspring of either partner. The Welfare Ministry's department of child welfare (DCW) is authorized to approve adoption by a same-sex couple under the same circumstances as adoption by a single person.

Mazuz emphasized that he addressed only the legal considerations of adoption by same-sex couples, and that individual cases would be decided by DCW professionals in accordance with the best interests of the child. He added that the principle of "the best interests of the child" is a complex one that cannot be met using inflexible formulas. Mazuz said that the sexual orientation of the prospective adoptive parents is a relevant consideration in determining the candidates' fitness to adopt.

In recent years, there have been two significant legal precedents regarding adoption by same-sex couples. In 2000, the High Court of Justice accepted the petition of Ruti and Nicole Brenner-Kaddish, after receiving an adoption order for the biological daughter of one of the women in California, and ordered the Interior Ministry to register the adoption. Two months ago, the state promised the High Court that the Interior Ministry would view this ruling as binding and would register the adoptions of other same-sex couples in possession of an adoption order issued abroad.

Full article: Israel to expand same-sex adoption rights | World | Reuters
AG okays wider adoption rights for same-sex couples | Ha'aretz