(JNS.org) Prominent Jewish groups welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and California’s ban on gay marriage. The American Jewish Committee (AJC), which filed an amicus brief in the cases, praised the decision. “Full recognition of marriage equality — the right to marry the person one loves regardless of gender — is a right whose recognition is long overdue. Today’s decisions are a large, but, unfortunately, incomplete, step in that direction,” AJC General Counsel Marc D. Stern said. Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, said, “Our [Conservative Jewish] movement recognizes and celebrates marriages, whether between partners of the same sex or the opposite sex. We therefore celebrate today’s decisions.”  With the Supreme Court’s decision, the U.S. joins Israel and several other Western countries that extend government benefits to same-sex couples. Israel, which does not permit same-sex marriage or civil marriage, does recognize same-sex unions for the purposes of taxes, immigration and other state benefits.