Israel

There is no publicly available government data on child marriage in Israel.

Child marriages reportedly still take place under the radar despite being illegal.

In 2017, the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services arrested a man moments before he married a 14 year old girl.

A 2016 report by the Israel Parliament on Knesset’s Law and Justice Committee states that 716 child marriages took place between 2014 and 2015, with only 37 cases investigated by officials.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

Religion: Child marriages are prevalent in the Haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox) community and Arab groups living in Israel. In Hasidic customs, the sons of distinguished rabbis often marry young in order to minimise the time between puberty and the wedding to prevent them from engaging in inappropriate thoughts. These marriages are conducted privately by rabbis who do not report the marriage to legal authorities and the formal registration happens once the bride and groom are of legal age.

There is limited information on child marriage in Israel.

Israel has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. During its Voluntary National Review at the 2019 High Level Political Forum, the government mentioned programmes to eradicate gender stereotypes and address topics such as child and forced marriage. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review at any High-Level Political Forum since.

Israel co-sponsored the 2017 Human Rights Council resolution on recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, and the 2019 Human Rights Council resolution on the consequences of child marriage. In 2014, Israel also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Israel co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2020 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Israel ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, which sets a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1991, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

During its 2017 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns about the persistence of forced marriages among Arab and Bedouin communities in Israel, and recommended that the government take further legislative and educational steps to eliminate this.

In November 2013, the Knesset passed the new amendment to the Marriage Age Law (Amendment No. 6) 5774-2013. The amendment raised the minimum legal age of marriage from 17 to 18 years. The amendment replaces the conditions under which a family court is authorized to issue a marriage permit to a minor.

Under Section 2 of the Marriage Age Law, a person who marries, enables or officiates the marriage of a minor may be sentenced to two years of imprisonment.