Six of the seven Supreme Court justices voted in favor of the ruling following petitions by homosexuals married abroad and these couples will have the same status in the Interior Ministry as heterosexual couples married in civil ceremonies outside of Israel.

“We are not ruling that marriage of people of the same sex is recognized in Israel; we are not recognizing a new status of such marriage; we are not expressing any position regarding the recognition of same-sex marriage conducted outside Israel,” Justice Aharon Barak wrote.

Justice Barak explained that the court is not interfering with other countries’ laws concerning homosexual couples.

“This approach of our ruling created a framework which leaves the most complicated legal questions undecided, while the question of social and moral recognition is left to the Knesset as a legislative body,” said the Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish who supported the ruling.

Canada and the Netherlands are among the few countries which legally recognize and perform marriages for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples.

In 2005, there were more than 15 Israeli couples married in Canada seeking recognition in Israel, which remained an issue in the Interior Ministry and the Justice Ministry before final negotiations were decided.