IsraelLawIs there a waiting period before a divorced or widowed woman can remarry in Israel?
Section 1 of the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law 5713-1953 gives rabbinical courts exclusive jurisdiction over the marriage and divorce of Jews who are nationals or residents of Israel, and directs that these matters be decided according to Jewish law. The marriage registrar at the local religious council therefore checks the applicant's divorce or widowhood file before opening a marriage file, and will not set a wedding date inside the 92-day window. The count restarts if the couple resumed living together after the get. A separate and older rule concerning a woman nursing an infant is applied far more flexibly today, usually through an application to the rabbinical court for a dispensation supported by medical evidence.
Diaspora and foreign national couples meet this rule in two ways. A woman who divorced abroad in a civil court but is Jewish and wants to marry in Israel will normally be required to obtain a get first, and the 92 days then run from the get, not from the earlier civil decree. A couple who cannot or will not wait sometimes marries civilly abroad instead, since the Population Authority registers a valid foreign civil marriage even though the Rabbinate did not perform it. Other religious communities apply their own periods, and the Family Court has no power to shorten a religious waiting period. Anyone planning a wedding date from overseas should open the file with the registrar months ahead, because document recognition and translation take longer than the wait itself.
- Governing law: Section 1, Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law 5713-1953; the waiting period itself is a rule of Jewish law applied by the Chief Rabbinate
- Competent authority: Marriage registrar of the local religious council (Rasham Nisuin); the Rabbinical Court (Beit Din Rabani) decides applications to shorten the period
- Length: 92 days counted from the day after the get is delivered, or from the date of the husband's death; the count restarts if the couple lived together again in the interim
- Registration fee: approximately NIS 700 for opening a marriage file with the religious council (2026), plus fees for document translation and notarization
- Other communities: Sharia courts apply the idda and Christian and Druze courts apply their own rules; the Family Court cannot override a religious waiting period
- Outside the rule: a civil marriage performed abroad is not bound by the 92 days, though the Population Authority still records the earlier divorce or widowhood
From the full guide: Remarriage After Divorce in Israel: A Complete Legal Guide for Foreign Nationals
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