Israeli law prescribes that couples have to marry through the religious courts – a Jewish couple at the rabbinical court, a Christian couple at the Ecclesiastical court, and so on. The law also prescribes that the only way to dissolve a marriage is through divorce at the religious courts, since they hold exclusive authority over divorce in Israel.
This fact causes young couples to reconsider their course of action before marrying. During 2024, approximately 36,000 Jewish couples were married through the rabbinate, while 11,542 couples divorced through it.
However, recently published data indicates that couples are slowly distancing themselves from the rabbinate: According to data collected by the nonprofit Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality, Israel has become a world leader in Zoom weddings performed by the State of Utah. Out of all applicants, 5,316 are Israeli, comprising one-third of applications from outside the United States.
For many couples, this is an efficient, quick, and cheap alternative, allowing them to get married from home. After this procedure, the couple can register as married at the Interior Ministry, without needing to travel abroad, and seemingly without having to involve the rabbinate.
Another way to marry outside of a rabbinical court is to travel abroad and marry according to the laws of the destination location, whether that be the Czech Republic, Cyprus, New York, or Las Vegas, which have become popular destinations.
Despite the enormous popularity of the quick and easy “Zoom weddings,” and in general for couples choosing to bypass the rabbinate – the divorce procedure, in case the couple wishes to separate, still has to take place under the rabbinate’s arcane laws.
The manner of dissolution cannot be formulated in a spousal agreement or prenuptial financial agreement; couples cannot undertake to “divorce by another way,” or choose to dissolve their marriage legally by any other means.
The government’s coalition agreements already include the intention to extend the authority of rabbinical courts. For a while now, the coalition has been advancing an amendment to the law, which passed in the ministerial committee for legislation this past Sunday.
It authorizes rabbinical courts to discuss child alimony, even without the consent of the other spouse – an authority that was not there before, and was even blocked by the High Court of Justice in a precedential ruling about a month ago.
'A dangerous initiative'
This dangerous initiative led by the government – due to its animosity toward the legal system, among other things – while extending the rabbinical courts’ monopoly over all matters of family disputes, may harm children’s rights, make the process even longer and more cumbersome, severely harm women’s rights within the divorce process, and exacerbate the problem of agunut (women “chained” to their marriage), as well as inequality following financial disputes between spouses.
Against all of this stands an equitable and adequate alternative that allows any couple in Israel to start a family without the religious court’s involvement at any stage – the institution of “common law marriage.” The state defines such couples as those who live as spouses in full partnership and raise a family together. They are considered by the state’s institutions as married, for all intents and purposes.
If, in the unfortunate event, they wish to dissolve their partnership, they won’t have to depend on humiliating rituals, unfamiliar rabbis, and religious laws that have nothing to do with their day-to-day lives.
So, before you enter into marriage, of whatever kind, of any style or ceremony you may wish, make sure to do it only after understanding the road ahead of you, and the implications of your choice – including the fact that your story may end up with a breakup.
The writer is an advocate and mediator concerning family and inheritance issues, and head of the legal unit at Havaya Israeli Life Cycle Ceremonies, Israel Hofsheet.