Tel Aviv Israel’s divorce capital
Overall divorce rate down 2 percent, but increase in breakups registered in Jerusalem, affluent communities; Tel Aviv divorces down 7.5 percent, but coastal city still tops divorce rate chart
One third of all marriages in Israel end in divorce, but the overall divorce rate dropped by 2 percent in 2005, according to Rabbinical Court statistics published by Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The statistics showed that 9,733 married couples broke up in 2005, as opposed to 9,750 in 2004. Tel Aviv saw the most dramatic change, as the number of divorces dropped by 7.5 percent; however, despite the encouraging numbers, Tel Aviv remained Israel’s divorce capital.
Jerusalem, on the other hand, saw a 2 percent increase in divorces, with 621 Jerusalem couples calling it quits in 2005, compared with only 608 in 2004.
A significant rise in the divorce rate was recorded in a number of surprising communities; in Beit-El and Kadima the number of divorces increased by a whopping 400 percent in 2005. Israel’s more affluent towns, such as Caesarea and Kfar Shmariyahu, also saw an increased divorce rate in 2005.
It turns out that not all ultra-Orthodox (haredi) marriages were meant to last forever either; the haredi towns of Kiryat Sefer and Betar Ilit both saw an increase in divorces in 2005, with the number of divorces in Betar Ilit nearly doubling.
According to the statistics, Israeli marriages that end in divorce last 13 years on average, with some exceptions: A couple from southern Israel who got hitched last year ended the fairytale after just 10 days, while a Jerusalem couple decided to mark their 60th wedding anniversary by getting divorced.
Fewer couples called it quits
Photo: Gabi Menashe
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