Ayelet Blecher-Prigat.
This Article aims to draw attention to the dynamic interrelationship between nonmarriage and marriage in which the principles, values, and rhetoric used in laws that relate to nonmarital intimate relationships infiltrate the traditional laws governing marriage. The Article argues that the laws governing nonmarriage affect the legal institution of marriage inasmuch as the laws governing marriage affect how nonmarital relationships are treated under the law. To demonstrate this dynamic interrelationship and influence, the Article uses observations drawn from the extensive Israeli legal experience with nonmarital relationships. Nonetheless, it advances a theoretical claim about the interrelationship between the laws of nonmarriage and of marriage that is relevant in general, including in the U.S. context.