Israel – 2014 results

The Israeli Government passed a law raising the minimum age of marriage for both men and women to 18 in November 2013.^[1] Previously, the age was 17 under the Marriage Age Law (1950),^[2] though Muslim men may have been subject to the Ottoman Law of Family Rights (1917), which set the age at 18.^[3]

Marrying or making arrangements to marry an underage woman is punishable by up to two years imprisonment. However, in special circumstances, subject to court discretion, a woman at age 16 may be allowed to marry, for example, if she is carrying the child of the man she wants to marry or has already given birth to his child. In a leading Supreme Court ruling on this subject, the Court President stated that the marriage age law cannot be circumvented on the grounds of a community’s custom or tradition, since it is these practices which the law sought to abolish.^[4]

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 11,747 women under age 18 were married in Israel in 2011 and 4% of all marriages of girls in 2010 compared to 1% for boys.^[5] In some cases, marriages are not registered with the civil authorities, but are solemnized in a religious ceremony. Nonetheless, after the fact, couples can get a rabbinical or Muslim religious court ruling certifying that their marriage was performed in accordance with religious law, and their union could be legally recognized by the Interior Ministry. A 2004 survey by the Knesset Research and Information Center claimed that when a petition is filed for an underage marriage (usually involving underage women), it is almost always granted, indicating gaps in enforcement of the Law.^[6]

The Capacity of Guardianship Law (1962), which applies to all Israeli citizens, provides parental authority to both parents, and the Women’s Rights Act (1951) recognizes both parents as equal, natural guardians of their children.^[7] In the case of divorce or separation, where the parents do not agree about custody and the court decides on the issue, it will grant custody of a child under the age of six to the mother unless there are special grounds for ordering differently, such as if the mother was shown to be incapable of looking after a young child. ^[8] In general, most courts tend to favor maternal custody even when older children are involved. Otherwise, the court is instructed to consider the best interests of the child.^[9] On the other hand, certain religious courts may rule differently. For example, in the Druze community, child custody, alimony, and property matters are settled after the divorce either by a civil family court or a religious court, which gives preference to the father unless it can be demonstrated that a child especially “needs” the mother.^[10]

Women have the same inheritance rights as men, both as widows and as daughters. Inheritance is governed by civil law.^[11].

Divorce is governed by the authorities of different religious communities in Israel. While a Jewish woman may initiate a divorce, her husband must deliver her a hand-written decree (get) in order for the divorce to be finalized. Men who refuse to grant divorces, leave their former wives as agunot (chained women). Rabbinical tribunals sometimes apply pressure or sanctions on a husband to compel him to grant a divorce, for example, fines for causing his wife mental harm, without dropping the requirement for his consent.^[12]

A Muslim woman may petition for a divorce through the sharia courts, which may grant it without her husband’s consent only under certain conditions. A marriage contract could provide for other circumstances that would permit her to obtain a divorce without his consent. A Muslim man does not have to petition the court to obtain a divorce, nor does he need his wife’s consent. Christians may seek official separations or divorces through ecclesiastical courts. Druze men may divorce by an oral declaration, subsequently registered by the Druze religious courts, forcing the divorced women to immediately leave their homes and children.^[13]