Israeli Supreme Court Overturns Rabbinical Court Decision: Unfaithful Wife Receives Half Joint Assets

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israeli Supreme Court has once again reversed a decision of the Rabbinical Courts regarding a petition for equal division of assets between a couple who had divorced. According to Israeli law, if the couple had lived in a common economic unit for the duration of their marriage, even assets registered in the name of one member of the couple should be equally divided in the event of divorce.

The regional and Higher Rabbinical Court had ruled that this stipulation should not be upheld if the woman had conducted a romantic relationship with another person during the course of the marriage, since by doing this she forfeits her right to equal assets. The case concerned a couple who had been married for 37 years and had three children. In 2013 the husband had filed for divorce, citing among other reasons the fact that his wife had “been unfaithful to him” for ten years of their marriage.

Despite this, the Supreme Court ruled that the woman should receive half of the joint assets. “The civil law is not designed to cure broken hearts,” wrote judge Uzi Fogelman. “There is no dispute that the “betrayal” did not influence the economic aspects of the couple’s relationship. The petitioner is entitled to half of the assets accrued by the couple until their separation, in accordance with the law.”

Fogelman, Anat Baron and Khaled Haboub reversed the rabbinical court decision. The court’s decision is in accordance with a similar 2021 ruling by the Supreme Court which granted a woman half of the assets despite her unfaithfulness, but in that case she had betrayed her marriage during the final months of the relationship.