Parallel Relationships and Common-Law Partnerships in Israel

Why an Israeli Man May Legally Have More Than One Partner

By Ronen Kolton Yehuda (Messiah King RKY)

1. Introduction: The Legal and Cultural Reality

Under Israeli law, polygamy—multiple formal marriages—is a criminal offense.

However, parallel non-marital partnerships are not.

An Israeli man may legally maintain relationships with multiple women simultaneously, provided that:

He is not married to more than one woman (no second wedding ceremony); and
Each relationship is genuine, stable, and conducted without formal marriage, fitting the legal definition of “common-law partnership” (ידועים בציבור).

This arrangement is entirely lawful under Israel’s civil framework and widely recognized across court rulings and administrative practice.

2. The Legal Distinction: Polygamy vs. Common-Law Partnership

Polygamy (Illegal)

Defined by Section 176 of the Israeli Penal Law (1977):

“A person who is married and marries another, or a person who is married to another while still married, shall be liable to five years imprisonment.”

This section applies strictly to formal, ceremonial marriages—religious or civil—conducted while one remains legally married to another spouse.

Common-Law Partnership (Legal)

In contrast, Israel’s courts and civil institutions recognize common-law spouses (yedua’im batzibur) as couples who:

Live together in a shared household, and
Conduct a life of mutual commitment similar to marriage, publicly known as partners.

Key precedents such as CA 52/80 Shahar v. Friedman, CA 2000/97 Lindorn v. Karnit, and CA 1717/98 Blai v. Pozesh established that no religious or civil registration is required.

Hence, multiple common-law relationships—each genuine and not ceremonially married—are lawful.

3. Can a Married Man Have Another Common-Law Partner?

Yes. Israeli jurisprudence allows for this.

As early as 1962 (Pesler v. Pesler, Haifa District Court), the judiciary recognized that a married man can form an additional partnership that qualifies as “common-law,” if the relationship demonstrates genuine cohabitation, shared life, and mutual dependency.

This interpretation has been repeatedly acknowledged in contexts such as National Insurance, pension rights, and housing benefits, where authorities accept evidence-based partnerships even when one partner remains formally married to another.

The state distinguishes between marriage as a legal-religious act and cohabitation as a factual partnership. Only the former is criminally restricted.

4. Rights of Common-Law Partners

Common-law partners in Israel may enjoy many of the same civilian rights as married couples, depending on the context:

Social Security benefits – may be granted if the relationship meets the cohabitation and mutual support tests.
Pension or survivors’ benefits – often available depending on fund rules and sufficient proof of partnership.
Property and financial rights – may arise where partners demonstrate shared financial life and mutual contribution.
Inheritance rights – under Section 55 of the Succession Law (1965), a common-law partner inherits only if neither partner is married to someone else at the time of death.
Therefore, married men must use wills or contracts to protect their partners’ inheritance rights.

Through written cohabitation agreements, wills, and beneficiary designations, a man may ensure financial protection for each of his partners within the law.

5. Enforcement and Cultural Context

In Bedouin communities across southern Israel, multiple-partner relationships are longstanding cultural traditions.

Although formal polygamous marriages are illegal, enforcement has historically been minimal.

In recent years, many Bedouin men have avoided criminal liability by not conducting additional marriage ceremonies and instead defining their secondary partners as “common-law spouses.”

This approach allows them to maintain several households and families while remaining within the boundaries of Israeli law.

The 2017 Government Program to Combat Polygamy and the 2019 State Comptroller Report both acknowledged that such informal arrangements—without formal weddings—do not constitute a criminal offense, since the Penal Law applies only to formal marriage acts, not to cohabitation.

Likewise, in Jewish and secular society, Israeli men may maintain more than one romantic or domestic relationship concurrently, provided that no additional marriage ceremonies are performed.

In effect, the law criminalizes second weddings, not multiple relationships.

6. How Courts Determine “Common-Law” Status

Courts evaluate each case individually, considering:

Continuous and shared residence
Economic interdependence and joint financial arrangements
Emotional and social connection resembling marriage
Public acknowledgment of the couple as life partners

There is no fixed minimum duration—what matters is the credibility and evidence of an authentic domestic partnership.

7. Practical Legal Interpretation

In practical terms, the Israeli legal framework creates four distinct categories:

Formal polygamy (multiple marriages) – a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.
A married man with one or more additional partners (common-law) – lawful, so long as no further marriage ceremonies occur.
An unmarried man living with multiple women as partners – fully lawful under civil law, provided each relationship is genuine and consensual.
Religious marriages performed without state registration – still considered illegal if they amount to a formal second marriage; but if treated simply as cohabitation, enforcement is generally not pursued.

Thus, multiple ongoing partnerships—so long as they remain non-marital—are recognized in practice and tolerated legally throughout Israel.

8. Legal Sources and Precedents

Penal Law, 1977 §176 – defines bigamy/polygamy as a criminal offense involving formal marriage.
Succession Law, 1965 §55 – defines inheritance rights of common-law spouses.
CA 52/80 Shahar v. Friedman – foundational test for common-law partnership.
CA 2000/97 Lindorn v. Karnit – clarifies evidentiary standards for partnership recognition.
CA 1717/98 Blai v. Pozesh – interpretation of §55 of the Succession Law.
Pesler v. Pesler (Haifa District Court, 1962) – recognition of a parallel common-law relationship for a married man.
Government Decision (2017): National Program for Combating Polygamy in the Negev.
State Comptroller Report (2019) – documents widespread non-enforcement and adaptation via “common-law” relationships.

9. Conclusion

Under Israeli law, it is fully legal for an Israeli man to:

Live with, love, and support multiple women simultaneously,
As long as no second or third marriage ceremony is conducted,
And each relationship represents a genuine, shared domestic life.

This civil reality—acknowledged both in practice and in jurisprudence—means that Israel does not prohibit multiple relationships, only multiple marriages.

The recognition of common-law partnerships offers a lawful path for plural domestic life, widely used among Bedouin communities and equally available to all Israeli citizens.

As long as relationships are consensual, transparent, and not formalized as marriages, an Israeli man may lawfully maintain several concurrent life partnerships without violating any criminal statute.

10. Same-Gender and Transgender Partnerships

Israel’s legal recognition of common-law relationships extends equally to same-gender couples and partners whose gender identity differs from birth registration.

Since the early 2000s, Israeli courts have repeatedly affirmed that the principles governing “yedua’im batzibur” apply regardless of gender.

Landmark rulings such as HCJ 3045/05 Ben-Ari v. Director of Population Registry and later administrative decisions confirmed the registration of same-sex couples for purposes of benefits, property, and family rights.

These decisions rest on the principle of equality before the law under Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.

Accordingly, an Israeli man or woman may live with partners of the same sex or transgender partners, and such relationships can receive the same common-law recognition as heterosexual ones, provided that they meet the factual criteria of shared domestic life and mutual commitment.

Therefore, under current Israeli civil jurisprudence, it is legally possible for a person—male or female—to maintain more than one partnership, including partners of different or same gender identities, so long as the relationships are consensual, authentic, and not formalized through multiple marriage ceremonies.

This inclusive interpretation reflects Israel’s evolving social and legal landscape: a balance between traditional marital law and modern civil recognition of diverse family forms.

Ronen Kolton Yehuda 👑💜🦁 MKR: Messiah King RKY