Marriage and Divorce

Converting after the wedding– as this  would mean that the family (civil) court would have jurisdiction over your divorce if the marriage fails, rather than the Moslem religious court. Also, if you have children and the marriage fails, it would be easier for you to keep the issue of child custody within the civil court system. Your religion at the time of your wedding is what counts – and determines whether the Moslem court has jurisdiction.

According to Islamic Law where a Moslem man says to a Moslem woman ‘ I have married you’ and she replies ‘ I have agreed’ – or vice versa – such a marriage is valid. Under Islamic law there is no need for a marriage to take place in the presence of a Kadi – a Muslim equivalent of a priest for Christians, or a rabbi for Jews. There is no requirement under Islamic law for the marriage to be registered. In addition a Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman providing she believes in one God and a ‘holy book’. She does not have to convert to Islam to marry him.

However, according to Israeli personal law, a citizen must be joined in matrimony within Israel before a religious court of his faith – for Muslims this means before a Kadi. Israeli law requires the registration of a Muslim marriage with the Interior Ministry.

No, two Protestants cannot get married in Israel.The Protestant faith is not recognised in Israel and accordingly it is not possible for them to get married under religious law. Civil marriage cannot yet be conducted in Israel so the only option is to cohabit in Israel, without marrying, or to go abroad to marry, either in a religious, church wedding or a civil ceremony.

No, two Anglicans cannot get married in Israel. The Anglican faith is not recognized in Israel and accordingly it is not possible for them to get married under religious law. Civil marriage cannot yet be conducted in Israel so the only option for two Anglicans is to cohabit in Israel, without marrying, or to go abroad to marry, either civilly or in a religious, church wedding.

Yes, according to Islamic law, before a Kadi.

No, according to Moslem religious law a man can marry a non-Moslem bride in a Moslem religious wedding ceremony providing she belongs to one of the monotheistic faiths . Thus a Christian woman can marry her Moslem boyfriend in a Moslem religious ceremony without having to convert. Another option would be to marry in a civil ceremony abroad.

Yes ! Marrying fictitiously is a fraudulent act which, if discovered, could drag the person who co-operated into criminal proceedings . Secondly, if the situation of divorce arose later, then this would have implications in Jewish law for the woman if she wished to re-marry. She would be divorced and, for example, would not be able to marry someone who was a ‘Cohen’ (member of the priestly tribe). Also, she would have to bear the social stigma, albeit less these days, of being a divorcee.

Yes ! Israeli Singer Matti Caspi was convicted of bigamy by  Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court which held that the religious divorce he had supposedly obtained abroad was not valid in Israeli law and, therefore, he was still married when he got wed to his second wife in a civil ceremony abroad.

The offence of bigamy under 1977 Israeli Penal Code the does not make a distinction between a valid and a void marriage regarding the alleged second marriage. Hence, one can be convicted under the Israeli criminal law of bigamy when one enters into a second marriage while still formally in the first, even though one lacks the legal capacity for this second marriage and according to Jewish law it is void from the start ( as only religious marriage to another Jew, according to Jewish law is valid) !

Someone who relies on the validity of a divorce obtained via a rabbinical court abroad may, mistakenly, think he is divorced though in Israeli law the first marriage may still be valid, if there are jurisdictional/procedural flaws in the ‘get’ process. He could be charged with bigamy.

The paradox is that the Penal Code recognizes a foreign civil marriage involving a Jew who is a citizen and resident – for the purposes of bigamy, though ironically a civil marriage abroad involving at least one Jew who is a citizen and resident of Israel has no legal validity in Israeli substantive law. This is because Israeli civil law adopts and internalizes Jewish religious law regarding marriage and divorce. Furthermore, a Jew who is a citizen and resident of Israel lacks the legal capacity to enter into a civil marriage abroad, according to Jewish religious law, the personal law applying to Jews in Israel. He can only marry another Jew, in a traditional Jewish wedding, according to Din Torah.

No. Under Jewish law a woman is in an inferior position to a man who is placed in a similar situation, with his spouse incarcerated in a mental hospital. A Jewish wife cannot divorce her mentally ill spouse, nor can she get permission to marry someone else. Under Jewish law, divorce is a legal act requiring understanding, freewill and agreement, which a spouse who is incurably ill with a mental illness is incapable of. Thus, divorce is out, and also for a man, whose wife is similarly afflicted. There is, however, a major difference; a man whose wife is afflicted, can can apply to the rabbinical court for permission to marry another woman.

The only option for a woman in the predicament mentioned is to live with another man, as common-law husband and wife, and have a court-authorised agreement defining their rights and obligations towards one another.

Yes ! Jewish law is very strict on this. A Cohen is forbidden from marrying a Jewish woman who has divorced her husband. One way of by-passing this is for the  two to marry in a civil ceremony abroad and having the marriage registered at the Ministry of the Interior here. However, from a strictly legal point of view such a marriage would not be legally valid here, according to the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage & Divorce) Law of 1953. This states that two Jews who are residents or citizens of Israel can only marry according to Jewish law, and puts matters of marriage and divorce into the exclusive hands of the rabbinical courts.

A civil marriage would have administrative validity – the marriage could be registered at the Ministry of Interior and each party would be recorded as “married” in their Israeli identity card. The Supreme Court of Justice in Jerusalem has held that this registration is no proof of the legal validity of the marriage. In practical terms the fact that the marriage is recorded in the identity card is sufficient for various things the parties may wish to arrange e.g. a mortgage should they wish to purchase an apartment .

Another option is to live together and make an agreement setting out rights and obligations towards each other without getting married.