Marriage in Israel
Encyclopedia
Marriages in Israel can only be performed under the auspices of the religious community to which couples belong. Matrimonial law is based on the Millet
or confessional community
system employed in the Ottoman Empire
, which was not modified during the British Mandate and remains in force in the State of Israel.
There are nine officially recognised Christian
communities, and Jewish, Muslim
and Druze
communities. Marriages in each community are under the jurisdiction of their own religious authorities. The religious authority for Jewish marriages performed in Israel is the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
and the Rabbinical courts. There is no provision for interfaith marriages, same-sex marriage
s or civil marriage
in Israel. The Israeli Interior Ministry registers marriages on presentation of proper documentation. Registration does not in itself validate a marriage, and lack of registration does not invalidate one. However, civil, interfaith and same-sex marriages entered into abroad are recognised by the state.
However, it is illegal under Penal Law Amendment (Bigamy) Law, 5719-1959 to marry in Israel while already married. This applies to members of each confessional community, including the Jewish and Muslim. However, polygyny
is still practiced in the Bedouin
community, where about 25% of men are believed to have more than one wife.
The minimum marriage age in Israel is 18 for males and 17 for females.
all matters of a religious nature and personal status, which included marriage, were within the jurisdiction of Muslim courts and the courts of other recognized religions, called confessional communities
, under a system known as Millet
. Capitulation Treaties also permitted the registration of marriages and divorces in the British, German, American and other consulates during the Ottoman period. Jewish religious matters were handled by the Hakham Bashi
and the Jewish courts.
Article 14 of the British Mandate of Palestine required the mandatory administration to establish a commission to study, define, and determine the rights and claims relating to the different religious communities in Palestine. 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. Those mandates were never enforced or put into effect. The High Commissioner established the Orthodox Rabbinate and retained a modified Millet system which only recognized eleven religious communities: Muslims, Jews and nine Christian denominations (none of which were Christian Protestant churches). All those who were not members of these recognised communities were excluded from the Millet arrangement, and "marriages" conducted in Palestine outside these communities were not recognised. Consular marriages remained customary during the British Mandate and civil divorces granted in other countries were registered and recognized by the mandatory administration. Provision was made for the registration of marriages, but not for the manner in which marriages would be conducted.
It has been argued that the Ottomans and the British did not contemplate a situation in which a person who belonged to one of the recognized communities would want to be married in a non-religious ceremony within that community. It has been claimed that there was no opposition to religious marriages when the religious courts were given authority in these matters. However, no provision was made for marriages between people who were not both members of the same, recognised, community.
Under the arrangement, the Mandate period confessional system would continue, with membership in the Jewish community being on the basis of membership of a body called "Knesset Israel", which was a voluntary organization which managed registrations of people who were related to it - that is, those recognised as Jews. There does not seem to have been any dispute at the time of who was a Jew. Jews could choose not to register with "Knesset Israel". Members of Agudath Israel
, for example, chose not to register.
Before 1953 "Knesset Israel" courts had authority over Jews registered with it. However, in 1953 rabbinical courts were established with jurisdiction over matters of marriage and divorces of all Jews in Israel, nationals and residents. (section 1) It was also provided that marriages and divorces of Jews in Israel would be conducted according to the law of the Torah
. (section 2)
Since 1953 the rabbinate has only approved marriages between Jews in Israel conducted in accordance with the Orthodox interpretation of halakha. The changes were applauded by religious Jews, but have been criticized by secular Jews since they were instituted. The only exception to these arrangements was that marriages entered into abroad were recognised as valid in Israel.
Jewish marriage
and divorce
in Israel is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
, which defines a person's Jewish status strictly according to halakha. The rabbinate's standards and interpretations in these matters are generally used by the Israeli Interior Ministry in registering marriages and divorces.
Halakhic and biblical restrictions on marriage are applied in Israel. So, for example, a kohen
may not marry a convert to Judaism. Similarly, children of adulterous and incestuous unions
are restricted as to who they can marry.
However, Israel does recognise civil or religious marriages entered into outside Israel. It is usual for couples who may not or choose not to marry in Israel to travel overseas to marry.. One out of every ten Israelis who married in 2000 did so abroad mainly because they could not marry in Israel. 2,230 couples who married abroad consisted of two Israeli partners, and another 3,660 couples consisted of an Israeli and a non-Israeli partner.
The issue of civil marriages is a major issue for secular Jews and members of non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, who are required to meet the Orthodox standards to be able to marry in Israel. There is a debate over whether civil marriages would divide the Jewish people in Israel by increasing inter-faith marriages and marriages which do not meet halakhic requirements, and over the character of the Jewish state
.
Most secular Jews view their Jewish identity as a matter of culture, heritage, nationality, or ethnicity. Ancestral aspects can be explained by the many Jews who view themselves as atheist and are defined by matrilineal descent or a Cohen (Kohen)
or Levi
, which is connected by ancestry. The question of “who is a Jew” is a question that is under debate. However, matters concerning marriage in Israel are controlled by strict Orthodox standards and disputed issues are resolved by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Issues related to ancestral or ethnic Jews are solved by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
Orthodox halachic rules apply to converts who want to marry in Israel. Under these rules, a conversion to Judaism must strictly follow halachic standards to be recognised as valid. The rabbinate even scrutinizes Orthodox conversions, with some who have converted by orthodox authorities outside of Israel not being permitted to marry in Israel. For example, a man who converted to Orthodox Judaism in the USA was denied an official marriage in Israel on the grounds that his conversion may not have been legitimate and that the Orthodox rabbi who converted him in Louisiana is not recognized in Israel..
If a person's Jewish status is in doubt, then formal conversion is required in order to be allowed to marry according to the Orthodox rules which govern all marriages between Jews in Israel.
According to an editorial in The New York Jewish Week:
A person who is neither halachically Jewish nor connected to another approved faith community cannot marry in Israel, although the government was reviewing this matter. A person who was born as the result of an adulterous or incestuous union is limited in whom he or she can marry. The most common case of this is a person who was married halachically but not divorced halachically; some people consider this a reason for continuing the current system, others for discontinuing it.
Arab
s.
In 1922, the British created the Supreme Muslim Council
as the Muslim religious authority in the British Mandate of Palestine and appointed Amin al-Husayni (1895–1974) as the Grand Mufti
of Jerusalem. The council was abolished in 1948 by Jordan
, but was reconstituted in Jerusalem after the Six-Day War
in 1967.
As the law of the land in relation to marriages has formally remained the Islamic law prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, it was not necessary for the Muslim community to formally "accept" these arrangements.
Muslim marriages are conducted in accordance with Islamic law and customs
, and inter-community marriages are not permitted.
Sharia courts deal with personal status issues in the Muslim community.
, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Chaldean (Uniate), Melkite Greek Catholic
, Maronite and Syrian Orthodox churches.
In 1970, the Anglican Church was included with these recognised churches. At the same time, special arrangements for the recognition of marriage were made between the State of Israel and the Lutheran, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Coptic Orthodox churches.
community was recognized as a separate community from the Muslim community in 1957. In 1962, separate Druze courts were established to deal with personal status issues in the Druze community, alongside the rabbinical courts, the Sharia courts, and the courts of the Christian communities.
, some of the olim were not considered Jewish by the rabbinate, which requires proof of maternal Jewish descent.
ruled that marriages entered into outside Israel conducted by a rabbinical court in accordance with halakha must be recognized in Israel. The case before the court involved a couple who were not residents or citizens of Israel at the time of their marriage. However, commentators have noted that the case did not deal with a situation where one or both of the couple were residents or citizens of Israel, nor with a civil marriage abroad.
The issue of recognition of civil marriages is of special significance in Judaism because Orthodox Judaism has prohibitions to marriages. These include restrictions on marriages involving a mamzer
and by kohen
im, but there are other restrictions. Such marriages will not be sanctioned by religious authorities and, as there is no form of civil marriage, cannot be formally entered into in Israel. The couples in these prohibited marriage situations sometimes marry overseas, mostly in Cyprus
, which is near Israel.
In 1962 the Supreme Court determined that the Ministry of the Interior must register as married couples who married in a civil marriage abroad, even if either or both of the couple were citizens of Israel. This judgment was interpreted as a minor technical issue , as the act of registration was said to be for statistical purposes only, and not a recognition of the personal status of the couple, as registration does not determine the validity of the marriage.
In a judgment given in November 2006 retired President of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak
ruled that the recognition of a civil marriage entered into abroad extended to its validity and recognition as a marriage for the purpose of Israeli law
, overruling a rabbinical court which had determined that a religious court had the authority to decide the validity or otherwise of a civil marriage entered into abroad.
s, which would prohibit them from marrying a child of a couple married in accordance with halakha. Opponents of the status quo agreement consider the system to be contrary to people's civil rights
.
Although most of the debate relating to civil marriage in Israel is conducted in the Jewish community, the issue has the same implications for all other recognised religious communities in Israel.
Supporters of civil marriage also argue that the status quo agreement is in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
, Article 16, which states that "men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality
or religion
, have the right to marry and to found a family."
. In cases when people requested to proclaim themselves as being "non-religious", in order that the court would be able to recognize his or her marriage according to an acceptable civil judgment, the court rejected their assertion. The only time in which the Court determined that the Ministry had to recognize a marriage between a Cohen and a divorcee was when it was based on the religious law that determines that those are forbidden marriages from the start but allowable post factum.
One method is to marry outside Israel; nearby Cyprus
became the most convenient venue for many Israelis. Paraguay
, which allows marriage without the presence of the couple
to be arranged by the Paraguayan consulate in Tel Aviv, is another jurisdiction used.
Another approach is to resort to what is called a "common-law marriage
". A common-law marriage entitles the partners to most of the rights of a formally married couple in relation to inheritance
, pension
s and the landlord and tenant matters
. However, the status of common-law marriage is not equal to that of formal marriage in many fields. For example, exemption from military service for a married woman only applies to a formally married woman.
Jurist Frances Radi supports these attempts to "bypass the law in legal ways", but points out that the necessity of an Israeli to resort to the use of a foreign state in order to get married diminishes the value of the alternative ways to get married. In her view, "the existence of those minor alternatives only points out the lack of the respect to secular values that the Israeli judiciary demonstrates".
party attempted to enable civil marriages for couples who could not marry in rabbinical courts; however, this attempt caused a governmental crisis.
The Meretz
party, and its historical component parties Mapam
, Ratz and Shinui
have been leading a struggle for civil marriages in Israel for a long time, but without success. At the start of the 21st century several rabbis (including the chief Sephardi rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar
) said that the great alienation which this situation creates does not serve the religious interest. As part of the coalition agreement for Ariel Sharon
's second government, the Shinui
party demanded that a legal solution be found for those who could not marry within Israel. A committee which was formed to find a solution for this problem came up with the "coupling arrangement" solution (ברית הזוגיות). This committee, which was led by Israeli parliament members Roni Bar-On
, Yuri Stern
, Nisan Slomianski and Roni Brizon, and represented parties from the wide political religious spectrum from the Shinui party to the Mafdal
party, eventually submitted a bill by which there would be a separate status recognised for people who came in the pact of duality which would not be considered as "marriage" but would be as similar as possible to the marriage institution. The bill never reached further legislation procedures.
In July 2007 Israel's Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann
and the chief rabbi of Israel
Shlomo Amar
reached an agreement on a limited bill for civil marriages in Israel, which would apply only to the marriage of Israelis who do not belong to any recognized religious community. Such a bill was introduced by Yisrael Beiteinu in 2009, eventually passing the Knesset on March 16, 2010; this bill, however, would only grant "couplehood union" status to couples who both declared non-religious status.
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...
or confessional community
Confessional community
A confessional community is a group of people with similar religious beliefs.In the Ottoman Empire, this allowed people to be grouped by religious confession as opposed to nationality or ethnicity, which was more consistent with the existing social structure. People were able to represent...
system employed in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, which was not modified during the British Mandate and remains in force in the State of Israel.
There are nine officially recognised Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
communities, and Jewish, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
communities. Marriages in each community are under the jurisdiction of their own religious authorities. The religious authority for Jewish marriages performed in Israel is the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Chief Rabbinate of Israel
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is recognized by law as the supreme halakhic and spiritual authority for the Jewish people in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Council assists the two chief rabbis, who alternate in its presidency. It has legal and administrative authority to organize religious...
and the Rabbinical courts. There is no provision for interfaith marriages, same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in Israel
Same-sex marriage cannot legally be performed in Israel, because only government-recognized religious authorities — all of whom disallow same-sex marriage — may officiate marriages. There are no provisions for civil or secular marriages in Israel. However, foreign marriages, including same-sex...
s or civil marriage
Civil marriage
Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
in Israel. The Israeli Interior Ministry registers marriages on presentation of proper documentation. Registration does not in itself validate a marriage, and lack of registration does not invalidate one. However, civil, interfaith and same-sex marriages entered into abroad are recognised by the state.
However, it is illegal under Penal Law Amendment (Bigamy) Law, 5719-1959 to marry in Israel while already married. This applies to members of each confessional community, including the Jewish and Muslim. However, polygyny
Polygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...
is still practiced in the Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
community, where about 25% of men are believed to have more than one wife.
The minimum marriage age in Israel is 18 for males and 17 for females.
History
Under the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
all matters of a religious nature and personal status, which included marriage, were within the jurisdiction of Muslim courts and the courts of other recognized religions, called confessional communities
Confessional community
A confessional community is a group of people with similar religious beliefs.In the Ottoman Empire, this allowed people to be grouped by religious confession as opposed to nationality or ethnicity, which was more consistent with the existing social structure. People were able to represent...
, under a system known as Millet
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...
. Capitulation Treaties also permitted the registration of marriages and divorces in the British, German, American and other consulates during the Ottoman period. Jewish religious matters were handled by the Hakham Bashi
Hakham Bashi
Hakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.-History:The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of the millet system for governing exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities...
and the Jewish courts.
Article 14 of the British Mandate of Palestine required the mandatory administration to establish a commission to study, define, and determine the rights and claims relating to the different religious communities in Palestine. 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. Those mandates were never enforced or put into effect. The High Commissioner established the Orthodox Rabbinate and retained a modified Millet system which only recognized eleven religious communities: Muslims, Jews and nine Christian denominations (none of which were Christian Protestant churches). All those who were not members of these recognised communities were excluded from the Millet arrangement, and "marriages" conducted in Palestine outside these communities were not recognised. Consular marriages remained customary during the British Mandate and civil divorces granted in other countries were registered and recognized by the mandatory administration. Provision was made for the registration of marriages, but not for the manner in which marriages would be conducted.
It has been argued that the Ottomans and the British did not contemplate a situation in which a person who belonged to one of the recognized communities would want to be married in a non-religious ceremony within that community. It has been claimed that there was no opposition to religious marriages when the religious courts were given authority in these matters. However, no provision was made for marriages between people who were not both members of the same, recognised, community.
Jewish community
In 1947 David Ben Gurion and the religious parties reached an agreement which included an understanding that matters of personal status in Israel, which included marriage, would continue to be determined by religious authorities. This arrangement has been termed the status quo agreement and has been maintained despite numerous changes of government since.Under the arrangement, the Mandate period confessional system would continue, with membership in the Jewish community being on the basis of membership of a body called "Knesset Israel", which was a voluntary organization which managed registrations of people who were related to it - that is, those recognised as Jews. There does not seem to have been any dispute at the time of who was a Jew. Jews could choose not to register with "Knesset Israel". Members of Agudath Israel
World Agudath Israel
World Agudath Israel , usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism, in succession to Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel...
, for example, chose not to register.
Before 1953 "Knesset Israel" courts had authority over Jews registered with it. However, in 1953 rabbinical courts were established with jurisdiction over matters of marriage and divorces of all Jews in Israel, nationals and residents. (section 1) It was also provided that marriages and divorces of Jews in Israel would be conducted according to the law of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
. (section 2)
Since 1953 the rabbinate has only approved marriages between Jews in Israel conducted in accordance with the Orthodox interpretation of halakha. The changes were applauded by religious Jews, but have been criticized by secular Jews since they were instituted. The only exception to these arrangements was that marriages entered into abroad were recognised as valid in Israel.
Jewish marriage
Jewish view of marriage
In Judaism, marriage is viewed as a contractual bond commanded by God in which a man and a woman come together to create a relationship in which God is directly involved. Though procreation is not the sole purpose, a Jewish marriage is also expected to fulfill the commandment to have children. The...
and divorce
Get (divorce document)
A is a divorce document, which according to Jewish Law, must be presented by a husband to his wife to effect their divorce. The essential text of the is quite short: "You are hereby permitted to all men," i.e., the wife is no longer a married woman, and the laws of adultery no longer apply...
in Israel is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Chief Rabbinate of Israel
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is recognized by law as the supreme halakhic and spiritual authority for the Jewish people in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Council assists the two chief rabbis, who alternate in its presidency. It has legal and administrative authority to organize religious...
, which defines a person's Jewish status strictly according to halakha. The rabbinate's standards and interpretations in these matters are generally used by the Israeli Interior Ministry in registering marriages and divorces.
Halakhic and biblical restrictions on marriage are applied in Israel. So, for example, a kohen
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
may not marry a convert to Judaism. Similarly, children of adulterous and incestuous unions
Mamzer
The Hebrew noun mamzer in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person. A mamzer is someone who is either born of adultery by a married woman, or born of incest , or someone who has a mamzer as a parent...
are restricted as to who they can marry.
However, Israel does recognise civil or religious marriages entered into outside Israel. It is usual for couples who may not or choose not to marry in Israel to travel overseas to marry.. One out of every ten Israelis who married in 2000 did so abroad mainly because they could not marry in Israel. 2,230 couples who married abroad consisted of two Israeli partners, and another 3,660 couples consisted of an Israeli and a non-Israeli partner.
The issue of civil marriages is a major issue for secular Jews and members of non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, who are required to meet the Orthodox standards to be able to marry in Israel. There is a debate over whether civil marriages would divide the Jewish people in Israel by increasing inter-faith marriages and marriages which do not meet halakhic requirements, and over the character of the Jewish state
Jewish state
A homeland for the Jewish people was an idea that rose to the fore in the 19th century in the wake of growing anti-Semitism and Jewish assimilation. Jewish emancipation in Europe paved the way for two ideological solutions to the Jewish Question: cultural assimilation, as envisaged by Moses...
.
Most secular Jews view their Jewish identity as a matter of culture, heritage, nationality, or ethnicity. Ancestral aspects can be explained by the many Jews who view themselves as atheist and are defined by matrilineal descent or a Cohen (Kohen)
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
or Levi
Levi
Levi/Levy was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi ; however Peake's commentary suggests this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
, which is connected by ancestry. The question of “who is a Jew” is a question that is under debate. However, matters concerning marriage in Israel are controlled by strict Orthodox standards and disputed issues are resolved by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Issues related to ancestral or ethnic Jews are solved by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
Orthodox halachic rules apply to converts who want to marry in Israel. Under these rules, a conversion to Judaism must strictly follow halachic standards to be recognised as valid. The rabbinate even scrutinizes Orthodox conversions, with some who have converted by orthodox authorities outside of Israel not being permitted to marry in Israel. For example, a man who converted to Orthodox Judaism in the USA was denied an official marriage in Israel on the grounds that his conversion may not have been legitimate and that the Orthodox rabbi who converted him in Louisiana is not recognized in Israel..
If a person's Jewish status is in doubt, then formal conversion is required in order to be allowed to marry according to the Orthodox rules which govern all marriages between Jews in Israel.
According to an editorial in The New York Jewish Week:
As a result, non-Orthodox Jewish couples are forced to submit to an Orthodox marriage ceremony with an Orthodox rabbi and are compelled to attend classes on family purity. No Israeli may marry outside his faith community. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens from the former Soviet Union who are not Jewish or whose Jewish ancestry is in doubt are unable to marry at all inside Israel.
A person who is neither halachically Jewish nor connected to another approved faith community cannot marry in Israel, although the government was reviewing this matter. A person who was born as the result of an adulterous or incestuous union is limited in whom he or she can marry. The most common case of this is a person who was married halachically but not divorced halachically; some people consider this a reason for continuing the current system, others for discontinuing it.
Muslim community
Most Muslims in Israel are SunniSunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s.
In 1922, the British created the Supreme Muslim Council
Supreme Muslim Council
The Supreme Muslim Council was the highest body in charge of Muslim community affairs in Mandate Palestine under British control. It was established to create an advisory body composed of Muslims and Christians with whom the High Commissioner could consult...
as the Muslim religious authority in the British Mandate of Palestine and appointed Amin al-Husayni (1895–1974) as the Grand Mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
of Jerusalem. The council was abolished in 1948 by Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, but was reconstituted in Jerusalem after the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
in 1967.
As the law of the land in relation to marriages has formally remained the Islamic law prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, it was not necessary for the Muslim community to formally "accept" these arrangements.
Muslim marriages are conducted in accordance with Islamic law and customs
Islamic marital jurisprudence
In Islamic law , marriage is a legal bond and social contract between a man and a woman. Islam commends marriage, with the age of marriage being whenever the individuals feel ready, financially and emotionally...
, and inter-community marriages are not permitted.
Sharia courts deal with personal status issues in the Muslim community.
Christian churches
There are nine officially recognised churches for the purposes of marriage. These are the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic (Latin rite), Armenian ApostolicArmenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Chaldean (Uniate), Melkite Greek Catholic
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
, Maronite and Syrian Orthodox churches.
In 1970, the Anglican Church was included with these recognised churches. At the same time, special arrangements for the recognition of marriage were made between the State of Israel and the Lutheran, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Coptic Orthodox churches.
Druze community
The DruzeDruze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
community was recognized as a separate community from the Muslim community in 1957. In 1962, separate Druze courts were established to deal with personal status issues in the Druze community, alongside the rabbinical courts, the Sharia courts, and the courts of the Christian communities.
Criticism of confessional system
The status quo agreement creates difficulties for people who, for whatever reason, cannot marry or divorce within the system, or who do not want to marry in a religious ceremony. The issue became acute when large numbers of immigrants (olim) from the former Soviet Union arrived in Israel in the 1990s. Although they became Israeli citizens under the Law of ReturnLaw of Return
The Law of Return is Israeli legislation, passed on 5 July 1950, that gives Jews the right of return and settlement in Israel and gain citizenship...
, some of the olim were not considered Jewish by the rabbinate, which requires proof of maternal Jewish descent.
Partial recognition of civil marriage
In 1951 the Supreme Court of IsraelSupreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
ruled that marriages entered into outside Israel conducted by a rabbinical court in accordance with halakha must be recognized in Israel. The case before the court involved a couple who were not residents or citizens of Israel at the time of their marriage. However, commentators have noted that the case did not deal with a situation where one or both of the couple were residents or citizens of Israel, nor with a civil marriage abroad.
The issue of recognition of civil marriages is of special significance in Judaism because Orthodox Judaism has prohibitions to marriages. These include restrictions on marriages involving a mamzer
Mamzer
The Hebrew noun mamzer in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person. A mamzer is someone who is either born of adultery by a married woman, or born of incest , or someone who has a mamzer as a parent...
and by kohen
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
im, but there are other restrictions. Such marriages will not be sanctioned by religious authorities and, as there is no form of civil marriage, cannot be formally entered into in Israel. The couples in these prohibited marriage situations sometimes marry overseas, mostly in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, which is near Israel.
In 1962 the Supreme Court determined that the Ministry of the Interior must register as married couples who married in a civil marriage abroad, even if either or both of the couple were citizens of Israel. This judgment was interpreted as a minor technical issue , as the act of registration was said to be for statistical purposes only, and not a recognition of the personal status of the couple, as registration does not determine the validity of the marriage.
In a judgment given in November 2006 retired President of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak is a Professor of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and a lecturer in law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Yale Law School, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law....
ruled that the recognition of a civil marriage entered into abroad extended to its validity and recognition as a marriage for the purpose of Israeli law
Mishpat Ivri
Mishpat Ivri In content, Mishpat Ivri refers to those aspects of Halakha that many in modern society generally consider relevant to "non-religious" or "secular" law...
, overruling a rabbinical court which had determined that a religious court had the authority to decide the validity or otherwise of a civil marriage entered into abroad.
Views on civil marriage
Since the establishment of the rabbinical courts, the status quo agreement has been strongly supported by the religious community, but criticised by others. The main argument of the supporters of the system is that a change of the status quo agreement will divide the Jewish people in Israel between those who marry according to Jewish religious standards and those who marry in a civil marriage. These would not be registered or scrutinized by the rabbinate, and their children would be considered illegitimate or mamzerMamzer
The Hebrew noun mamzer in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person. A mamzer is someone who is either born of adultery by a married woman, or born of incest , or someone who has a mamzer as a parent...
s, which would prohibit them from marrying a child of a couple married in accordance with halakha. Opponents of the status quo agreement consider the system to be contrary to people's civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
.
Although most of the debate relating to civil marriage in Israel is conducted in the Jewish community, the issue has the same implications for all other recognised religious communities in Israel.
Support for religious marriages
Supporters of the status quo agreement argue that:- When people are married according to Jewish law and subsequently divorce civily, children from a subsequent marriages of the woman will be mamzerim, who are severely limited by Jewish law in whom they can marry. This, together with acceptance of non-Orthodox conversions, will split the Jewish people into two groups that can not marry one another.
- Marriages in the rabbinical court preserve the holiness of the state of Israel and add a spiritual and religious dimension of family purity according to Jewish religious laws.
- Civil marriage will lead to assimilation and intermarriage. Marriage in the rabbinical court, it is argued, is a guarantee to the continuation of the existence of the Jewish population in the state of Israel.
- A secular legislator is incapable of understanding the importance of religious halakha standards to the religious community.
- From a religious standpoint, a religious ceremony causes no harm even though it imposes halakhic standards on non-religious Israelis - it is even considered by the religious community to be a mitzvahMitzvahThe primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
, a noble deed.
Support for civil marriages
Supporters of civil marriage in Israel argue that the status quo agreement violates the rights of Israeli citizens by:- imposing religious standards on those who do not desire it.
- creating difficulty for the marriages of people who belong to different religious communities and people who do not observe any religion.
- not permitting marriages of those who are prohibited by halakha, such as marriage between a person considered to be a mamzerMamzerThe Hebrew noun mamzer in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person. A mamzer is someone who is either born of adultery by a married woman, or born of incest , or someone who has a mamzer as a parent...
, or a CohenKohenA Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
wishing to marry a divorcee. It also prohibits widows who did not have any children from a previous husband from getting re-married without passing halizahHalizahUnder the Biblical system of levirate marriage known as Yibbum, Halizah is the ceremony by which a widow and her husband's brother could avoid the duty to marry after the husband's death....
. - restricting religious equality by refusing to delegate authority to ReformReform JudaismReform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
and ConservativeConservative JudaismConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
communities. - discriminating against women, by the inclusion of institutions such as AgunotAgunahAgunah ; literally 'anchored or chained') is a halachic term for a Jewish woman who is "chained" to her marriage. The classic case of this, is a man who has left on a journey, and has not returned, or has gone into battle and is MIA...
and "recalcitrant wives", and by refusing to permit women to officiate as rabbis in the rabbinical court.
Supporters of civil marriage also argue that the status quo agreement is in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
, Article 16, which states that "men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
or religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, have the right to marry and to found a family."
The verdict
At the times when people petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel, trying to convince the Supreme Court to form an authority of civil marriages, the Supreme Court refused to do so, declaring that this was the responsibility of the KnessetKnesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
. In cases when people requested to proclaim themselves as being "non-religious", in order that the court would be able to recognize his or her marriage according to an acceptable civil judgment, the court rejected their assertion. The only time in which the Court determined that the Ministry had to recognize a marriage between a Cohen and a divorcee was when it was based on the religious law that determines that those are forbidden marriages from the start but allowable post factum.
Alternative methods
Over time a number of alternative methods have been used by couples who wished to marry without a religious ceremony, or who were unable to marry in Israel.One method is to marry outside Israel; nearby Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
became the most convenient venue for many Israelis. Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, which allows marriage without the presence of the couple
Proxy marriage
A proxy wedding or is a wedding in which the bride or groom is not physically present, usually being represented instead by another person...
to be arranged by the Paraguayan consulate in Tel Aviv, is another jurisdiction used.
Another approach is to resort to what is called a "common-law marriage
Common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
". A common-law marriage entitles the partners to most of the rights of a formally married couple in relation to inheritance
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
, pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s and the landlord and tenant matters
Tenant rights
Tenant rights can either refer to the rights tenants enjoy by law, or to the movement to acquire such rights. Tenant rights generally seek to protect renters from landlord neglect and unfair eviction, as well as secure fair, affordable housing....
. However, the status of common-law marriage is not equal to that of formal marriage in many fields. For example, exemption from military service for a married woman only applies to a formally married woman.
Jurist Frances Radi supports these attempts to "bypass the law in legal ways", but points out that the necessity of an Israeli to resort to the use of a foreign state in order to get married diminishes the value of the alternative ways to get married. In her view, "the existence of those minor alternatives only points out the lack of the respect to secular values that the Israeli judiciary demonstrates".
Political attempts to resolve the situation
In the late 1960s the Independent LiberalIndependent Liberals (Israel)
The Independent Liberals were a political party in Israel between the 1960s and 1980s.-History:The Independent Liberals party was formed during the fifth Knesset in the aftermath of the merger of the Liberal Party and Herut. Seven of the 17 Liberal Party MKs led by former Minister of Justice,...
party attempted to enable civil marriages for couples who could not marry in rabbinical courts; however, this attempt caused a governmental crisis.
The Meretz
Meretz-Yachad
New Movement-Meretz , previously known as Meretz, then Yachad, and then Meretz-Yachad is a left-wing, Zionist, social democratic political party in Israel....
party, and its historical component parties Mapam
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
, Ratz and Shinui
Shinui
Shinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for...
have been leading a struggle for civil marriages in Israel for a long time, but without success. At the start of the 21st century several rabbis (including the chief Sephardi rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar
Shlomo Amar
Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
) said that the great alienation which this situation creates does not serve the religious interest. As part of the coalition agreement for Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
's second government, the Shinui
Shinui
Shinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for...
party demanded that a legal solution be found for those who could not marry within Israel. A committee which was formed to find a solution for this problem came up with the "coupling arrangement" solution (ברית הזוגיות). This committee, which was led by Israeli parliament members Roni Bar-On
Roni Bar-On
Roni Bar-On is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Kadima and is a former Minister of Finance.-Biography:...
, Yuri Stern
Yuri Stern
Yuri Stern was a Russian-Israeli politician and journalist. He was a member of the Knesset from 1996 until his death, first as a member of Yisrael BaAliyah and later on behalf of Yisrael Beiteinu.-Background:...
, Nisan Slomianski and Roni Brizon, and represented parties from the wide political religious spectrum from the Shinui party to the Mafdal
National Religious Party
The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...
party, eventually submitted a bill by which there would be a separate status recognised for people who came in the pact of duality which would not be considered as "marriage" but would be as similar as possible to the marriage institution. The bill never reached further legislation procedures.
In July 2007 Israel's Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann
Daniel Friedmann
Daniel Friedmann was the Minister of Justice of Israel from 2007 to 2009. A professor of law, he was appointed by PM Ehud Olmert. He was sworn in on February 7, 2007, succeeding Tzipi Livni. In 2009 he was succeeded by Ya'akov Ne'eman.-Early life:...
and the chief rabbi of Israel
Chief Rabbinate of Israel
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is recognized by law as the supreme halakhic and spiritual authority for the Jewish people in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Council assists the two chief rabbis, who alternate in its presidency. It has legal and administrative authority to organize religious...
Shlomo Amar
Shlomo Amar
Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
reached an agreement on a limited bill for civil marriages in Israel, which would apply only to the marriage of Israelis who do not belong to any recognized religious community. Such a bill was introduced by Yisrael Beiteinu in 2009, eventually passing the Knesset on March 16, 2010; this bill, however, would only grant "couplehood union" status to couples who both declared non-religious status.
See also
- Civil marriageCivil marriageCivil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
- Common-law marriageCommon-law marriageCommon-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
- Interfaith marriage in JudaismInterfaith marriage in JudaismInterfaith marriage in Judaism was historically looked upon with very strong disfavour by Jewish leaders, and it remains a controversial issue amongst Jewish leaders today. In the Talmud, interfaith marriage is completely prohibited, although the definition of interfaith is not so simply expressed...
- Same-sex marriage in IsraelSame-sex marriage in IsraelSame-sex marriage cannot legally be performed in Israel, because only government-recognized religious authorities — all of whom disallow same-sex marriage — may officiate marriages. There are no provisions for civil or secular marriages in Israel. However, foreign marriages, including same-sex...
External links
- Jewish Virtual Library: Bigamy and Polygamy
- www.israfete.com - Marriage Israel website
- Mariage en Israël
- Marriage in Israel