The Rabbinate Monopoly on Divorce

Speak to any lawyer or even a law student in the United States studying family law about divorce and you will learn that the process can get lengthy and messy. It can get much lengthier and messier in Israel though. This isn't because Israelis are unreasonable folk when compared to others, but rather that the state of Israel has granted a monopoly to religious communities for marriage and divorce. There are no civil marriages or divorces that are legally recognized within Israel. The religious laws that are thus enforced can make it very difficult for a woman to move on with her life.

NPR showcases Ramit Alon, a forty year-old woman who cannot move on and remarry despite leaving her troubled marriage four and a half years ago. The problem? Her husband does not want a divorce. While Alon did already physically leave the marriage, the legality of her situation gets further complicated. For example, if she chooses to move on without officially being divorced, her new children will be considered mamzerim and will be unable to be married in Israel.

Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Dahan told NPR that to label the system as being unfair to women is not true, citing that husbands who more or less actively avoid divorcing their wives can be jailed. NPR quickly states that this is the "exception not the rule." With Men Get the Final Word being part of their headline, it's clear that their point of view is against the religious monopoly. With that said, they did allow the opposing viewpoint a chance to defend itself.

Truth is though, had Alon been the husband, all she would need to do is write a bill of divorce and have it handed to the wife—faxing the bill is acceptable as well. This is based off of Deuteronomy 24:1, "He writes a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand" (Rosenthal, 353). It can get more complicated than that with the involvement of children and the terms of the ketubah (prenuptial agreement) which then involve a decision made by the Rabbinical Court, but what is important is that Jewish law makes divorce a choice made by the husband and not the wife.



This allows for hostage-like situations such as a case family court lawyer Yisraela Gratzyani discussed in Donna Rosenthal's The Israelis:

"Her husband is blackmailing her. He won't give her a divorce unless she gives him the house her parents bought them as well as all her claims to alimony. It's outrageous. He's trying to screw her. To win the judges' sympathy, he's pretending to be religious" (Rosenthal 353). 

Once again, this situation would be much different if the roles were reversed.

The situation can be worse for Muslim women though, who have to deal with Islamic courts. The husband only needs to repeat "I divorce you" thrice to his wife. The woman needs a compelling reason and often times has to return her dowry. Donna Rosenthal summarizes the life of many Muslim women who want a divorce by saying that they "tend to remain in bad marriages or let their husbands have another, unofficial wife than face life as a social pariah." (Rosenthal 366) Like NPR, Rosenthal does seem to sympathize with the red tape women have to deal with.

Ultimately, the difficulty of divorce for Israeli women is a symptom of the state-enforced monopoly on marriage given to religious organizations. American economist Murray Rothbard has noted that "a coercive monopolist will tend to perform his service badly and inefficiently." This has come true, as evident by Alon's lack of action to procreate not because of a physical impairment but because of a legal one that will make it even more difficult for their marriages.