Marriage in Israel
[2] Israel recognizes only marriages under the faiths of Jewish, Muslim, and Druze communities, and ten specified denominations of Christianity.
However, civil, interfaith, and same-sex marriages entered into abroad are recognized by the state;[5] as a consequence Israeli residents not permitted to marry in Israel sometimes marry overseas, often in nearby Cyprus, or since 2022, remotely via videotelephony with an officiant in Utah, which a lower court and subsequently the Supreme Court de facto recognized in 2023.
Capitulation Treaties also permitted the registration of marriages and divorces in the British, German, American, and other consulates during the Ottoman period.
Article 15 required the mandatory administration to see to it that complete freedom of conscience and the free exercise of all forms of worship were permitted, but this was never put into effect.
Consular marriages remained customary during the British Mandate, and civil divorces granted in other countries were registered and recognized by the mandatory administration.
The rabbinate's standards and interpretations in these matters are generally used by the Israeli Interior Ministry in registering marriages and divorces.
[11][12] If a person's Jewish status is in doubt, formal conversion is required in order for them to be allowed to marry according to the Orthodox rules which govern all marriages between Jews in Israel.
[15][16] In 2015, Tzohar (a religious Zionist rabbinic organization in Israel), along with the Israeli Bar Association, introduced a prenuptial agreement meant to help ensure divorcing wives will receive a get; under the agreement the husband commits to paying a large sum of money daily to his spouse in the event of a separation.
[17] It remains a criminal offense for Jews in Israel to marry in weddings performed outside the state's religious authority, and doing so can result in a jail sentence of up to two years.
[citation needed] Hiddush ranked Israel as the only Western democracy that is on a par with Islamic states including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia in relation to freedom of marriage.
[citation needed] Christians may seek official separations or divorces, depending on the denomination, through ecclesiastical courts.
[24] In 2013, the general minimum age for marriage in Israel was raised to 18;[25][26] it had earlier been 18 for men and 17 for women,[27] then equalised at 17 years.
The Israeli Supreme Court affirmed that marital rape is a crime in a 1980 decision, citing law based on the Talmud.
[32] Some Bedouin men use nominal divorces or unrecognized marriages with women who are not Israeli citizens in order to circumvent the law.
[42] In September 2022, an Israeli court in Lod recognized civil and religious marriages solemnized on Zoom videoconference by officiants in Utah as legal.
[43] The ruling allows for couples to not have to leave Israeli soil in order to receive solemnization of a civil marriage, but was opposed by religious parties in the Netanyahu cabinet.
[44] The divorce process in Israel for married people of Jewish faith is administered by the Get Procedure and finalized by Rabbinical Judges.
[45] On 15 November 2016, the Get Procedure was officially regulated after State Attorney Shai Nitzan required criminal prosecution of men or women who refuse to grant or accept a divorce after being instructed to do so by a rabbinical court, although some said it would not have a dramatic impact since criminal proceedings will only be possible if the rabbinical court issues a rarely used ruling obligating a spouse to agree to the divorce.
[48] The judicial system can issue a stay of exit to a man undergoing a divorce if he neglects to fulfill his child support obligations.
