I am separated and have live abroad with the children for some time now . My husband still lives in Israel. We are both Jewish. It looks as if he will finally file for divorce at the rabbinical court in Israel. Does this mean that it will automatically hear the case for child custody ?
By: דיאנה שאלתיאל•Published on: 09 May, 2022Not necessarily, due to amendments to Israeli law that came into force on 10th August 2005, regarding the Rabbinical Courts (Marriage & Divorce) Act of 1953. Prior to the changes this legislation gave the rabbinical court extra-territorial jurisdiction over divorce between Jews who had a connection to Israel (via citizenship or residency), irrespective of where they married and the kind of ceremony they had. Once divorce was filed, custody was automatically bound to the plea, and other issues like property and maintenance could also be bound.
Under the new law, the exclusive jurisdiction given to the rabbinical court concerning Jews who were citizens or residents of Israel regarding divorce has been amended, so that it only applies in one of six specific situations. The rabbinical court will only have exclusive jurisdiction over a divorce plea between Jews who married according to Jewish law, if one of the following situations applies:
(1)the defendant’s centre of life/place of habitual residence is in Israel;
(2)both parties are Israeli citizens;
(3)the Plaintiff’s centre of life/place of habitual residence is in Israel, and he has lived in Israel for at least a year prior to the plea;
(4)the plaintiff’s centre of life/place of habitual residence is in Israel and the parties’ last joint place of domicile was in Israel;
(5)the plaintiff is an Israeli citizen, and his/her life is centred in Israel or he/she is habitually resident in Israel.
(6)the plaintiff is an Israeli citizen and has lived in Israel for one of the last two years preceding the filing of the plea.
Furthermore, once the rabbinical court has decided that the amendments apply , and the court has restricted jurisdiction over the divorce, then issues like custody, property and maintenance cannot be bound, as before, according to the amendments . Thus, the family court in Israel or the appropriate court abroad will have jurisdiction.
The changes apply to divorce pleas which were pending at the rabbinical court when they came into force , on 10/8/05.