Un infelice matrimonio di convenienza: la famiglia in Israele tra tradizione e modernità

This paper analyses the unique features of Israeli family law. Israel adopts the millet based model in which high priority is given to collective self-government by each religious community within the polity. Accordingly, marriage and divorce fall within the monopoly of religious courts and citizens are subject to different jurisdictions depending on their religion. The paper argues that the millet system is unsatisfactory to the extent that it can unduly disadvantage outsiders, non-conformists or dissidents within particular self-grounded religious communities, and to the extent that it can substantially thwart secular initiatives such as the pursuit of gender-based equality throughout the polity.