No ! The Supreme Court of Justice finally put an end to this bizarre and invalid practice in September 2006 . The long-awaited ruling was one of the last judgments with Justice Aharon Barak as its President, before his retirement. It stated quite categorically that the rabbinical court has no jurisdiction whatsoever regarding marriage and divorce where one of the parties is not Jewish. It said that the Rabbinical Courts’ Jurisdiction (Marriage & Divorce ) Act of 1953 does not empower the rabbinical courts to hear applications for dissolution of marriage where one or both of the parties is non-Jewish.

Previously rabbinical courts in Israel had often dealt with such applications and the Ministry of Interior had registered the cancellation of such marriages as a result. This practice is now categorically declared illegal. The procedure for ending mixed marriages is via a civil process, with the initial application now being made to the vice-president of the family court.