Can You Get Married in Israel Without a Religious Ceremony?
Israel’s Civil Union Law registers couples only where both partners are recorded as having no religion, on the Ministry of Justice’s own published rules.
51,643 couples married in Israel in 2022 on the Central Bureau of Statistics count published in its Tu B’Av release of 15 August 2024, a count whose universe is marriages conducted by authorised religious institutions in Israel where at least one spouse is registered in the Population Registry. One route in Israeli law sits outside that universe. The Civil Union Law for Citizens Having No Religion, 5770-2010, registers a union where both partners are recorded in the population registry as having no religion, which is the first condition the Ministry of Justice’s Registrar of the Civil Union lists on its own service page, last updated 7 July 2025.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51,643 | Couples married in Israel, in ceremonies by authorised religious institutions, at least one spouse in the Population Registry | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2022 |
| 37,135 | Jewish couples within that total, 71.9% of 51,643 | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2022 |
| 12,756 | Muslim couples within that total, 24.7% of 51,643 | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2022 |
| 18 | Minimum age of each applicant for civil union registration | Ministry of Justice, Registrar of the Civil Union | Service rules as published, page updated 7 July 2025 |
| 3 of the last 5 years | Required presence in Israel for each applicant | Ministry of Justice, Registrar of the Civil Union | Service rules as published, page updated 7 July 2025 |
| 30 days | Window in which any person may object after the application is published | Ministry of Justice, Registrar of the Civil Union | Service rules as published, page updated 7 July 2025 |
| About 150 days | The Ministry’s own estimate of how long registration may take | Ministry of Justice, Registrar of the Civil Union | Service rules as published, page updated 7 July 2025 |
The Civil Union Law registers only couples with no religion
The Ministry of Justice’s Registrar of the Civil Union publishes the conditions for registration in the conjugality registry, and the Ministry states the first of them without qualification: both partners must be registered as having no religion. That classification is a population registry entry, so a person recorded as Jewish, Muslim, Christian or Druze is outside this route whatever they practise. The remaining conditions, as the Ministry lists them in its own service rules:
- Each applicant is an Israeli citizen or resident aged 18 or over.
- Each applicant has been in Israel for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
- The partners are not relatives.
- The partners are not already married to, or registered as married to, each other.
- Neither partner is married to, or registered as married to, anyone else in the population registry or in a comparable foreign register.
The Ministry states religious authorities may reject a registration
On the Ministry of Justice’s own description of its procedure, the application is referred to the religious authorities as the law directs. The same page states that the religious authorities have the power to reject the registration. Both facts come from the state body that administers the registry, describing its own process, and the Ministry publishes no further criteria on that page for how a rejection is reached.
Registration takes about 150 days, with a 30-day objection window
The Registrar of the Civil Union publishes the application for public inspection on the civil union website and in a daily newspaper, and any person may file an objection within 30 days of that publication. The Ministry of Justice states that registration may take about 150 days, which is the Ministry’s own estimate for its own process rather than a deadline set in the statute. The Ministry also publishes a reduced fee in stated cases.
| Step or condition | As the Ministry publishes it |
|---|---|
| Publication | Application published on the civil union website and in a daily newspaper |
| Objection | Any person may object within 30 days of that publication |
| Referral | Application referred to the religious authorities as the law directs |
| Duration | May take about 150 days, on the Ministry’s estimate |
| Reduced fee | Conscript soldier or national service, student, new immigrant in the first two years, or entitled to income support |
Source: Ministry of Justice, Registrar of the Civil Union and the Unit for Religious Communities, service page for registration in the conjugality registrar, page last updated 7 July 2025.
The Bureau’s 51,643 counts only marriages performed by religious institutions
The Central Bureau of Statistics draws its marriage series from the Population Registry and states its universe: marriages conducted by authorised religious institutions in Israel where at least one spouse is registered there. Within that universe it counts 51,643 couples married in 2022, of whom 37,135 were Jewish (71.9%), 12,756 Muslim (24.7%), 959 Druze (1.9%) and 762 Christian. Those four counts do not exhaust the published total, falling 31 short of 51,643, and the Bureau’s own component counts should not be summed to it.
No body publishes how many couples have used the civil union registry
The Ministry of Justice publishes the conditions, the procedure, the timetable and the fee reductions for the conjugality registry, and publishes no count of registrations made under the Civil Union Law, in total or for any year. The statute as recorded in the Knesset legislation database carries no count either. The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that 10% of those recorded in the Population Registry as married abroad did so during the period its release specifies, and its 51,643 counts no marriage performed abroad, so that total is silent on registrations under the civil union route in both directions.
Which figures on this page may not be added?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts marriages conducted by authorised religious institutions in Israel; registrations of marriages contracted abroad are a separate object in the same release and are never added to the 51,643. The four religious component counts fall 31 short of that total, so a reader who sums them finds a gap of 31 in one line, and every published share divides against 51,643. The Ministry of Justice figures are conditions, a publication window and the Ministry’s own duration estimate, not counts of couples, and none of them may be read as a volume of registrations. The civil union registry creates a status alongside marriage under the 2010 statute and is not counted in any marriage figure on this page.
Questions readers ask
Does Israel have civil marriage?
The Ministry of Justice publishes one non-religious route, the conjugality registry created by the Civil Union Law for Citizens Having No Religion, 5770-2010, and it registers a civil union rather than a marriage. The Central Bureau of Statistics counts marriages in Israel only where they were conducted by authorised religious institutions.
Who can register a civil union in Israel?
The Ministry of Justice states that both partners must be registered as having no religion, and that each must be an Israeli citizen or resident aged 18 or over who has been in Israel for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
What does “having no religion” mean here?
The Ministry of Justice applies the population registry classification, so the condition turns on the registry entry and not on a person’s practice or belief.
Can a secular Jewish couple use the civil union route?
The Ministry of Justice lists registration as having no religion for both partners as an absolute condition, so a partner recorded in the registry under a religion is outside the route as the Ministry publishes it.
Do religious authorities have a role in a civil union?
The Ministry of Justice states that the application is referred to the religious authorities as the law directs, and that they have the power to reject the registration.
How long does registration take?
The Ministry of Justice estimates that registration may take about 150 days.
Can anyone object to a registration?
The Registrar of the Civil Union publishes each application on the civil union website and in a daily newspaper, and states that any person may file an objection within 30 days of that publication.
Is there a reduced fee?
The Ministry of Justice publishes a reduced fee where one partner is a conscript soldier or in national service, a student, a new immigrant in the first two years, or entitled to income support.
How many couples have registered a civil union?
The Ministry of Justice publishes no count of registrations in the conjugality registry, and the statute records none.
How many couples marry in Israel each year?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 51,643 couples married in Israel in 2022, within a universe of marriages conducted by authorised religious institutions where at least one spouse is in the Population Registry.
Which groups make up that total?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 37,135 Jewish couples, 12,756 Muslim, 959 Druze and 762 Christian in 2022, and those components fall 31 short of the published total.
Does the Bureau count marriages contracted abroad?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts registrations of marriage abroad separately and does not include them in the 51,643; it reports that 10% of those recorded in the Population Registry as married abroad did so in the period its release specifies.
When was the Civil Union Law passed?
The Knesset enacted the Civil Union Law for Citizens Having No Religion, 5770-2010, published in Sefer HaChukkim 2235 on 22 March 2010, and the Knesset legislation database lists no amending act.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024. Marriages in Israel, Tu B’Av data release, media release 253/2024, 15 August 2024. Demography and Census Division. Official or primary record.
- Knesset, 2010. Civil Union Law for Citizens Having No Religion, 5770-2010. Sefer HaChukkim 2235, p. 428, 22 March 2010. National legislation database record 2000129. Official or primary record.
- Ministry of Justice, 2025. Registration in the conjugality registrar. Registrar of the Civil Union and the Unit for Religious Communities, service page last updated 7 July 2025. Official or primary record.
- Ministry of Justice, 2010. Civil Union Regulations for Citizens Having No Religion, 5771-2010. Official or primary record.
