The Israeli government has just opened the floodgates for its transgender citizens to change their government-issued identification to match their preferred gender without virtually any biological criteria.
According to Haaretz, Israel’s Justice Ministry approved new rules that will cut down on the required wait time, lower the age at which one can change their identity, and eliminate requirements for hormonal treatment or surgery.
“Everyone is asked to show an identity card on a daily basis – at the bank, at university, when signing a contract, at the health maintenance organization, at the National Insurance Institute, on being hired for work, when buying alcohol and cigarettes and more,” said a joint statement from Maavarim, the Aguda (Israel’s LGBT Task Force), and Project Gila, three pro-transgender Israeli organizations.
“For transgender people, anyplace they have to show an identity card is a place where they’re exposed to violence and anti-transgender discrimination,” the statement continued. “When your identity card says ‘male’ but you live as a woman, your means of identification reveals you as differently gendered and thereby exposes you to violence and discrimination.”
Before, individuals had to wait up to two years for Health Ministry approval. Now, that time has been drastically reduced to just six months, during which the requesting party must prove to a ministry committee that they are living in accordance with their declared “gender identity.” The committee may also elect to fast-track or shorten an individual’s wait time.
In what Haaretz calls “another improvement,” the committee can no longer require transgender people to start hormone treatment as a part of the approval process. Where the former requirements allowed only adults 18 and up to apply, now children as young as 16 years old can now change their government ID under these lenient rules.
Until 2015, Haaretz notes, Israeli authorities only permitted people to change their gender on their ID cards after receiving “gender reassignment” surgery. A petition by transgender women to the High Court of Justice, however, led to the state establishing a committee in 2018, removing the surgical requirement for approval.
Even with the new rules, however, the requirement of committee approval places Israel slightly above other countries who allow for such ID changes with nothing but a personal statement from the individual, including Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Argentina, and Pakistan.
Most shockingly of all, the committee will no longer be able to confirm the applicant’s “gender identity” by asking other people in that person’s life, or “make any use of the applicant’s information” without their consent. This essentially silences any witnesses that would contradict the applicant’s “gender identity,” opening up the entire process to fraud and abuse.
Lastly, the new rules require that the committee allow “an observer from an organization representing transgender people” to be present at its meetings. Gee, and I’ll bet the government came up with that policy without any influence from these billionaire-funded organizations whatsoever! Yeah, right!
“This certainly doesn’t end the difficulties facing transgender people in Israel,” Israel’s Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber said in a letter on Tuesday. “The road to freedom is long. But I hope these changes will make life easier for many transgender people by removing unnecessary obstacles from their path, and thereby help to protect human rights in Israel on a salient issue of human dignity.”
Of course, Project Gila co-founder Ido Katri argued that “the new rules still severely infringe on the autonomy of body and soul, in the sense of determining for another person who they are.”
“It’s not clear what the justification for the existence of this medical committee is, especially when we’re talking about people who don’t seek to undergo any sort of medical procedure, but are rather seeking legal recognition of their identity,” Katri said.
“Any improvement in the access of people on the transgender spectrum to suitable identity documents is a significant step on the road to a better reality for us all,” said Ella Amest, joint executive director of Maavarim. “We’ll continue to work to simplify the process, until our right to self-determination isn’t dependent on a committee’s approval.”
One can’t help but be reminded of Old Testament prophets, especially Jeremiah, who, speaking for the Lord, declare woe unto Israel for its spiritual infidelity.
“As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations,” says the Lord in Jeremiah 13:27 (NASB). “Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”
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