Jonathan Rosenblum has an article in a recent Jerusalem Post wherein he writes that the state of Israel has demonstrated a “reluctance to enforce laws against statutory rape in cases where the Jewish girls [married to Arab men] are young teenagers.” I was wondering if that’s true and if it is true, if Israel also has demonstrated a general reluctance to enforce statutory rape laws (as opposed to just in the cases of Arab-Jewish intermarriages).
I see I was a bit hasty in asking my question…I just found an article which is very helpful.
Still, any insights would be appreciated.
Just FYI, I’d take anything the Jerusalem Post has to say with a grain of salt.
Your second article is a lot more accurate and informative.
I would actually go further, that even by the JPs standardds the article is extreme and overtly racist. Basically the author has an axe to grind and though he is trying to justify a religious postion using ‘sociological’ arguments, (given the author) you can be failry sure that his main issue is religious.
To the actual question, Israel has several cultures (Islamic, Jewish and others) in which marriage at an earlier age than which Israeli law allows is not only seen as acceptable, but almost normal and enforcing this law on thsoe cultures is not something for which there exists a great deal of public will.
As for statuory rape in marriages between Jewish girls and Arab men/boys, we’re really talking about an infinitessmially small to non-existant problem. There’s signifcant signifcant social barriers to Jews and Arabs forming romantic relationships and even where these relationships do exist there’s signifcant barriers to marriage as the couple would either have to get married abroad or one of them would have to convert to the others religion.
If someone tried to say it was a problem I’d ask them how many underage marriages occcur in Israel each year on average between underage Jewish women and Arab men (it wouldn’t suprise me at all if the answer was less than 1).
Isn’t it illegal for a Jew to marry a non-Jew in Israel? 
I was under the impression that, unless they go abroad, Israeli Jews can only marry in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony and the Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law views interfaith marriages as prohibited.
They are, however, free to convert.
Although a trip to Cyprus is more fun
Are they free to simply leave the faith by declaration should they become atheists or agnostics? Or would this not be recognized for the purposes of marriage?
There is no civil marriage in Israel. In order to marry a Muslim, they’d have to convert to Islam or get married outside Israel.
I see. So it’s impossible for someone who openly professes atheism to marry in Israel?
It depends. Are you an atheist Jew, and atheist Muslim or an atheist Christian?
(You’re down the rabbit hole now, pal).
Having been to Israel I’ll have to say that you’re my new hero.
Oh, and that the typo of ‘fairly’ up there to ‘failry’ should really be the basis of a new word. Doesn’t ‘failry’ seem to sum it all up?
Failry rell.
Reading the article I saw 2 issues -
Many (most) of the youth marriages are Palestinian ethnics. Israel has a demographic problem and trying to stem the growth of the muslim, Palestinian population is desirable in the eyes of some more orthodox factions. Delaying marriages and births is a start. The real issue is arranged marriages; and given the ethnic tensions already in the area, imposing a different culture’s views on what is an old tradition may be difficult.
Like many societies, some people (Tatiana, which sounds like a Russian immigrant’s name) want to marry earlier than is considered appropriate by heir parents or others. No different than other western societies.
The article also asserts that the marriage age is 18 in the west. Most states and countries tend to have exceptions down to 16 or even earlier, but usually require parental permission. In the world of arranged marriages, I assume parental permission is not an issue - so the article’s tone and the incorrect assertion are trying to suggest that Israel is trying to match the west when instead they are substituting state oversight for traditional parental control.
So I looked up the claims in this article and turns out, the issue’s murkier than it would indicate. The questions in my original OP still stand…
If you look up the statistics from the Central Bureau cited which say over 70% of underage women getting married are Muslim, you’ll find an asterisk referring you to the Introduction to the Central Bureau’s marriage statistics, which will inform you as follows: “Cases in which the religion of one spouse is unknown (e.g., when that spouse is not a resident of Israel) are registered according to the religion of the second spouse. Cases of marriage and divorce in which the groom is Moslem and the bride is Jewish are included in marriages of Moslems.”
Sorry that when I had asked the questions, I hadn’t found all this out first. My initial google search found me nothing and then I stumbled across the Ynet article. Now I see the Ynet article is inaccurate.
It is permissible under Islamic law for a male Muslim to marry a Christian or Jewish woman (& or any “non-pagan” women), but a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man. IIRC under Jewish law it’s impossible* for a Jew to convert to another religion and cease being a Jew. He may become an apostate Jew, but he remains a Jew.
*Children coverted to Judaism by their adoptive parents can renounce the conversion as an adult.
There was a recent episode in the news where a fellow from England met a girl from Canada online, and they got married. However, apparently when he tried to take her back to Britain, the law there restricts foreign brides from being allowed residence in Britain unless they are 25 years old.
Apparently this is how Britain tries to deal with the arranged marriage and child bride issue - by making it illegal to import younger spouses.
From the article, Isael is wrestling with the same dilemma - how to change one culture that does something modern western values consider exploitation - without being so heavy-handed that the state appears excessively oppressive. SO they have the laws but don’t enforce them.
Cite? I was in much the same situation just four months ago, and my bride’s age had no bearing on her UK residence permit. Unless the law has changed since then I suspect you are misremembering, or the news program was wrong.