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Will Israel recognize a Get given by a rabbinical court abroad?

Usually yes, but confirmation is a separate step from the ceremony itself. A Get written and delivered before a recognised beit din abroad is valid as a matter of Jewish law, and the Israeli Rabbinical Courts normally accept it once the paperwork is produced. Under the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law 5713-1953 those courts hold authority over the divorce of Jews in Israel, so a Regional Rabbinical Court reviews the ma'ase beit din, the record the foreign panel issued, before the Population Authority alters the marital status entry. Financial and custody questions travel a different road, through the Family Court.

The Chief Rabbinate keeps a list of batei din abroad whose divorces it accepts without further inquiry. Where the panel that wrote the Get appears on that list and the record is complete, confirmation is largely administrative. Where the panel was unlisted, ad hoc, or non-Orthodox, the Israeli court examines the scribe, the witnesses and the delivery, and it may call for a further Get to remove doubt. That confirmation is what the Population and Immigration Authority relies on when it changes the register, so a couple who divorced abroad and filed nothing in Israel often stay registered as married for years.

This catches diaspora couples who divorce abroad and later make Aliyah, and Israelis who married abroad and divorced there. Bring the original ma'ase beit din, the ketubah if it survives, and identity documents. A foreign public document generally needs an apostille and a Hebrew translation. Anyone planning to remarry in Israel should complete the confirmation first, because the Rabbinate will not register a new marriage while the previous one stands on the record. A foreign civil divorce decree does not dissolve a Jewish religious marriage on its own, a point covered in our guide to the Get and religious divorce in Israel.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law 5713-1953; Population Registry Law 5725-1965 for the status entry
  • Competent authority: Regional Rabbinical Court (Beit Din Rabani Ezori) for confirmation; Population and Immigration Authority for the register
  • Documents: the ma'ase beit din issued by the foreign panel, the ketubah, identity documents, plus apostille and Hebrew translation for foreign records
  • Timeline: a few weeks where the foreign beit din sits on the Chief Rabbinate's recognised list, several months where it does not
  • Fees: Rabbinical Court filing fees for a confirmation application are modest, generally under NIS 500 (2026)
  • Watch out: a civil divorce abroad leaves a Jewish couple religiously married until a Get is given and recognised

From the full guide: The Get: Religious Divorce in Israel

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