other sexual offenses. However, there were several cases of soldiers tried for homosexual acts in military courts. In 1953, the Attorney General of Israel issued a directive ordering the police to refrain from enforcing the law against homosexual acts between consenting adults. The Israeli Supreme Court likewise ruled in 1963 that the law should not be applied to acts between consenting adults in private. The ban on consensual same-sex sexual acts was formally repealed by the Knesset in 1988. The age of consent for both homosexual and heterosexual acts is 16 years of age. Recognition of same-sex relationships Between 1994 and 2007, numerous rights were granted to Israeli same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage cannot legally be performed in Israel. Israeli law allows same-sex marriages performed elsewhere to be registered, but not recognized based upon a 2006 Israeli Supreme Court decision which stated: Before we conclude, let us reemphasize what it is that we are deciding today, and what it is that we are not deciding today. We are deciding that within the context of the status of the population registry as a recorder of statistics, the registration official should register in the population register what is implied by the public certificate that is presented to him by the petitioners, according to which the petitioners are married and in view of the role of the registration official as a collector of statistical material for the purpose of managing the registry...We are not deciding that marriage between persons of the same sex is recognized in Israel; we are not recognizing a new status of such marriages; we are not adopting any position with regard to recognition in Israel of marriages between persons of the same sex that take place outside Israel (whether between Israeli residents or between persons who are not Israeli residents). Civil marriage does not exist in Israel for heterosexual couples either (except where both heterosexual spouses do not belong to any of the recognized religious communities in the country), and therefore only a marriage sanctioned by the small number of officially recognized religious authorities can take place within Israel. (This restriction forces not only same-sex couples, but also all mixed-religion heterosexual couples and any person who wishes a non-religious marriage, to marry outside the country.) The State of Israel allows foreign partners of its homosexual citizenry to receive residency permits. The Civil Service Commission extends spousal benefits and pensions to