When I tell my non-Israeli friends that in Israel - a Jew cannot marry a non-Jew - they think I'm making a cynical-sarcastic-Israeli style-joke about 1930s Germany.
- Nir Topper
- Jul 7
- 4 min read
In fact, I add, in Israel no person of one religion can marry a person of another religion.
The relationship between religion and state in Israel is based on a complex and unique model, at the center of which stands the arrangement of religious communities. This is a legal framework that grants exclusive jurisdiction in matters of personal status—primarily marriage and divorce—to the courts of recognized religious communities. Although the State of Israel often seems obsessed with the religious identity of its citizens, this arrangement is not an original Israeli creation but a historical inheritance rooted in the Ottoman "Millet" system. This system was adapted during the British Mandate and adopted by the State of Israel immediately upon its establishment. Consequently, every Israeli citizen is affiliated with one of the recognized religious communities or classified as "unaffiliated."
Historical and Legal Foundations
The Ottoman Empire - The origin of the current arrangement in Israel lies in the Ottoman "Millet" system, which granted legal autonomy to non-Muslim religious communities (millets) to manage their internal affairs and maintain religious courts. The Ottoman Empire ruled the land of Israel for 400 years, from 1517 to 1917. At its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a global power spanning three continents and managing a vast empire with diverse populations. This pragmatic solution allowed for the effective administration of a multi-religious empire.
The British Mandate Period - After its victory over the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Britain received a mandate over Palestine from the League of Nations and ruled the region from 1922 to 1948. With the establishment of the British Mandate, the Ottoman Millet system was adopted and given a modern legal framework in the Palestine Order in Council, 1922. The crucial amendment, which shaped the reality to this day, was the "Second Supplement" of 1939. It established for the first time a closed list of recognized religious communities, transforming a flexible arrangement into a rigid framework.
The State of Israel - The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948 (the 5th of Iyar, 5708), immediately upon the termination of the British Mandate. Upon its establishment, the young state adopted the Mandatory law, including the list of recognized communities.
The legal significance of "recognition" is the granting of a judicial monopoly: by law, matters of marriage and divorce for Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian citizens of Israel are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the religious courts of their respective communities.
Since the state's inception, the list has barely changed. Only three communities have been added: the Druze (1957), the Evangelical Episcopal Church (1970), and the Baha'i Faith (1971). Since then, the list has been frozen. The state adopted a policy of non-recognition of additional communities, stemming from a political decision to preserve the "status quo" on matters of religion and state. As a result, the list does not reflect the religious diversity in Israel today but rather constitutes a "historical photograph" preserved for political reasons.
As of today, Israel officially recognizes 14 religious communities:
The Jewish Community: Authority is vested in the Chief Rabbinate and the rabbinical courts. This authority applies to all Jews registered in the population registry. Jews constitute about 74% of the population (approximately 7.24 million people).
The Muslim Community: Authority is vested in the Sharia courts, which operate as state institutions. Muslims constitute about 18% of the population (approximately 1.78 million people).
The Druze Community: Recognized as a separate community in 1957. Authority is vested in the Druze religious courts. The Druze constitute about 1.6% of the population (approximately 157,500 people).
The Ten Christian Communities: Nine were recognized during the Mandate period, and one was added in 1970. Their ecclesiastical courts are not government institutions, but their authority is recognized. The Christian population numbers about 188,000 (approximately 1.9% of the population) and includes communities such as the Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Latin (Roman Catholic).
The Baha'i Faith Community: Recognized in 1971. This is a unique recognition of an administrative-diplomatic nature, intended to regulate the status of the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa. The community consists of about 650 volunteers who are not citizens, and there is no Israeli Baha'i community.
Communities with Special Status
Alongside the official list, there are other communities whose status is complex:
Karaite Judaism: Their request for official recognition was rejected, but in a precedential High Court of Justice ruling, the exclusive authority of the Karaite court to adjudicate marriages and divorces for members of the community was recognized. This is a hybrid situation of judicial recognition in the absence of administrative recognition. The community numbers between 30,000 and 50,000 people.
The Samaritan Community: An ancient ethno-religious community not on the recognized list, but the state de facto respects its communal autonomy in managing personal status matters. The community numbers about 900 people.
The Circassian Community: An ethnic group (Sunni Muslims), not a separate religious community. They are subject to the Sharia courts. Their special status stems from their cultural identity and their relationship with the state. The community numbers about 5,000 people.
The Unclassified: "Without Religious Affiliation"
The greatest challenge to the system is the existence of a large and growing population of citizens defined as "without religious affiliation," numbering about 472,000 people (about 5% of the population). This category mainly consists of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and their descendants, who are not recognized as Jewish according to Halakha (Jewish religious law).
The existence of this group exposes the anachronism of the system. These citizens are left in a legal vacuum, unable to marry in their own country. The existing solutions, such as recognizing civil marriages performed abroad or the "Spouse Union Law for Persons without Religious Affiliation," are partial and do not provide a comprehensive solution. The continuous growth of the population without religious affiliation highlights the gap between the social reality in Israel and the archaic legal framework, posing a challenge to the sustainability of the religious communities arrangement in its current form.
The full table of recognized religious communities in Israel (including the breakdown of Christian denominations) can be viewed at this link:
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