A groundbreaking decision was issued by the Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, placing an exit order on the new partner of a man refusing to grant a divorce (get).
According to a report by Shila Fried on the Ynet website, the man separated from his first wife in Israel three years ago, and the Rabbinical Court ordered him to grant her a get. To avoid this obligation, the husband left the country and began traveling between European countries.
The Rabbinical Court’s Agunah Department discovered through surveillance that he was in a new relationship and even married his second partner, while still refusing to grant a divorce to his first wife. He was living with a new partner abroad, and the court had been unable to reach him through messengers and mediators to extract a get from him for his first wife.
In recent weeks, the man’s second wife visited Israel. The Agunah Department presented evidence to the court suggesting that the second wife was encouraging and convincing her partner not to grant a divorce to his first wife. As a result, the court decided to summon her for a hearing during her visit to Israel.
The woman refused to attend the hearing, and a travel ban was issued against her for several days, prompting her to appear at the court.
During the hearing, the judges were convinced that the second wife was indeed complicit in persuading the husband to continue refusing the get. The judges noted that they found contradictions in her testimony. To exert pressure on the husband, the Rabbinical Court issued a travel ban against the second wife, who was visiting Israel, for one year.
Rabbi Eliyahu Mimon, head of the Agunah Prevention Department, which locates recalcitrant husbands who flee and attempts to reach them by various means, told Ynet that “The court turns over every stone and makes every effort to free women from their agunah status. I hope that the court’s efforts will lead to the release of the agunah.”
In the past, travel restrictions and sanctions have been imposed on those who assist and encourage men in their refusal to grant a divorce in violation of the court’s orders.
Recently, a travel ban was issued against a rabbi from Monsey who visited Israel after participating in a wedding for a man refusing to grant a divorce to his first wife and marrying a second woman. Sanctions were also imposed on a father who convinced his son not to grant a divorce. These proceedings are coordinated with and approved by the Supreme Court.
