The Status of the Unmarried Parent in Israel Law

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Abstract
It has been said that there are no illegitimate children but only illegitimate parents, a paradox which reflects the view that the iniquity of the fathers should not be visited upon the children, that the rights of children should not suffer deprivation because of the “sin” of their parents. So put, it presents a challenge to those many legal systems which discriminate against children born out of wedlock, treating them as illegitimate and denying them rights against their parents or, in some jurisdictions, against their fathers. For all that, we are now witnessing in a number of countries a process which is blurring and largely doing away with the traditional disqualifications and discrimination against illegitimate children. Not only does the violation of the rights of a child because his parents bore him out of wedlock appear to many of us to be immoral in itself, but we go on and urge that it is wholly unreasonable to release the “sinning” parent from his obligations and place the burden of bringing up his child on society at large. This last view does not, however, give any moral or legal approbation to bringing children into the world out of wedlock but suggests rather that the protection of the institution of marriage and family should properly find expression in the status of the unmarried parents. The problems to which this understanding of the matter gives rise are the subject of the present analysis of the pertinent Israel legislation.

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