Question:
Can two Ethiopians, one Jewish and one Christian, who married in Ethiopia before they immigrated to Israel, divorce here – and how ?
Answer:
Yes ! Civil divorce , technically known as dissolution of marriage, is possible in Israel, for Ethiopian couples of different religions, who married in Ethopia. Under the Matter of Dissolution of Marriage (Special Cases & International Jurisdiction ) Act of 1969 application is first made to the president of the family court to determine which court has jurisdiction , though invariably it will be with the family court itself. Under Israeli law mutual consent is sufficient grounds for dissolving a marriage , but where one party opposes, the other side must prove grounds under Ethiopian law, for which an expert opinion must be submitted.
In January 2008 Jerusalem Family Court ordered the dissolution of marriage of an Ethiopian Jewish man who had married a Christian woman before a tribal chief in Ethiopia, prior to their immigration to Israel.
The couple had grown up children, and had been separated for 14 years, with the husband cohabiting with another woman with whom he had a child. In this case the husband submitted an expert opinion on Ethiopian law , which argued that applying for a divorce was, itself, sufficient ground for ending the marriage, under the revised foreign law. This was accepted by the court , despite faults, because of the absence of a counter opinion by the objecting wife, and the difficulty of finding any experts in the field. This, together with the fact that neither side disputed the long separation and the absence of hope for reconciliation, was sufficient for the court to declare the marriage dissolved. The wife was mistaken when she feared that ending the marriage would prevent her from pursuing legal proceedings against her husband for an alleged 50,000 NIS maintenance debt he owed her, the court held, saying that the divorce proceedings had began over ten years ago and should not be held up any longer.