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russia-insider.com<\/p>\n
The agreement has been met with outrage by the Israeli LGBT community, with critics pointing to what they say is Israel\u2019s conflicting stance on gay rights.European Parliament \/ Pietro Naj-Oleari \/ Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)<\/em><\/p>\n Israel and Russia have signed a new adoption agreement that will effectively block LGBT Israelis from adopting Russian children, Israel\u2019s Channel 12 news outlet\u00a0reported<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Wednesday.<\/p>\n Russia\u00a0banned<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0adoption by LGBT couples and individuals from countries that allow gay marriage in 2013. Israel has been complying with this law through a de facto arrangement in the years since it passed, the Haaretz news outlet\u00a0reported<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in 2017.<\/p>\n While it doesn\u2019t explicitly mention LGBT adoption, the new agreement, which was signed ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s visit to Israel this week, says all adoptions between Russia and Israel must comply with Russian law.<\/p>\n The agreement has been met with\u00a0outrage<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>by Israel\u2019s LGBT community, with critics pointing to what they say is Israel\u2019s conflicting stance on gay rights. Despite a\u00a02017 promise<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to legalize adoption by same-sex couples, LGBT Israelis are still barred from adopting children or conceiving children through surrogacy.<\/p>\n Israel had previously rejected Russia\u2019s requests to put the LGBT restriction into a formal document, Haaretz\u00a0reported<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Thursday.<\/p>\n Russia is one of the few countries to allow adoption by Israeli parents, and Russian children account for\u00a0roughly half<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>of all adoptions in Israel. The latest agreement aims to make it easier and faster for heterosexual couples and individuals in Israel to adopt Russian children.<\/p>\n An\u00a0explanatory note accompanying Russia\u2019s 2013 LGBT adoption law said that the\u00a0government had acted to\u00a0protect adopted children \u201cfrom possible unwanted influence such as artificial forcing of\u00a0non-traditional sexual behavior and\u00a0the suffering, complexes and\u00a0stresses that, according to\u00a0psychologists\u2019 studies, are often experienced by\u00a0kids raised in\u00a0same-sex families.\u201d<\/p>\n Original source\u00a0The Moscow Times<\/a><\/p>\n