ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between the legal sphere of migration and marriage policies, and the everyday experiences of foreign non-Jewish spouses and partners of Israeli Jews. Israel aspires to be a democracy, albeit an ethnic democracy that privileges Jews. Intermarriage has long engaged the interest of social scientists, policy makers and lawmakers, and religious authorities. The basic definition of intermarriage is that it is an exogamous relationship between two individuals who belong to different ethnic, religious or social groups, who hold different citizenships or who are categorised as belonging to different races, amongst other possible differences. The non-Jewish immigration remains problematic be it temporary migration, the non-Jewish spouses of Jewish immigrants, individuals who are recognised by the Law of Return but not Jewish according to rabbinic authorities. In Israel, a marriage between Jews of Ashkenazic and Mizrahic origin will be described as intra-Jewish intermarriage.
