In a joint initiative of the President of Israel, the Minister of Justice, the Rabbinical Court, and the Public Defender’s Office, a long-time divorce refuser released his wife from over two decades of being an agunah (chained woman).
The Rabbinical Court in Safed (Tzfat) approved the granting of a get (Jewish divorce) to a woman who had been an agunah for more than 20 years. The resolution of the complex case was made possible thanks to a unique collaboration between the Public Defender’s Office, the Pardons Department in the Ministry of Justice, the Rabbinical Court, the Minister of Justice, and the President of Israel.
The couple had married in the United States and had three children. In 2002, the woman filed for divorce in a U.S. rabbinical court, but her husband refused to appear in court, and a contempt order was issued against him.
In 2011, when the man came to Israel for his son’s Bar Mitzvah, the woman filed for divorce in an Israeli Rabbinical Court and obtained a court order preventing him from leaving the country. The court later ruled that he was obligated to grant the get, but he refused. Even after a ruling from the Great Rabbinical Court, he continued to resist.
A year later, he was sent to civil prison for refusing to give the get and served seven years. During his imprisonment, the Rabbinical Court imposed various sanctions on him, including a ban on receiving strictly kosher food. Still, the man persisted in his refusal.
About four years ago, in a rare move, the police prosecution filed criminal charges against the man for “violating a court order intended to protect a person.” He was convicted by the Haifa Magistrate’s Court and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
After his appeal was rejected, attorney Avraham Sofer, representing the man via the Public Defender’s Office, proposed a solution: the man would grant the get in exchange for receiving a presidential pardon and release from prison.
The request was reviewed by the Pardons Department of the Ministry of Justice, which contacted a representative from the Rabbinical Court who had been supporting the woman. He described her prolonged suffering and her plea for the President and Minister of Justice to intervene and help free her from her marital captivity through an act of clemency.
After reviewing the full details of the case, the Pardons Department drafted a unique opinion on the complex and sensitive matter and forwarded its recommendation for approval by the Minister of Justice and the President’s Office.
Indeed, in this exceptional case, the President decided—after receiving the recommendations—to perform an act of compassion and mercy toward the woman by easing the man’s sentence, on the condition that he grants the get. Today, after a lengthy court session attended by the man, he signed the get, and accordingly, the official letter of sentence reduction was issued by the President.
The President’s Office stated:
“The decision in this case was a necessary step. The President of Israel has done and will continue to do everything in his power to assist women who are denied a get in their distress. The power of pardon is a vital social tool that occasionally provides solutions to complex social and humanitarian issues.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin commented:
“Despite the difficulty of granting a pardon to someone undeserving of it, I saw it as my duty to save, quite literally, the tormented soul of a woman who had remained an agunah for more than 20 years. I hope this will allow her to begin a new chapter in her life, as she so rightly deserves, after so many years of imposed suffering.”
Attorney Limor Goldenberg-Hadad, head of the Pardons Department at the Ministry of Justice, said this was a heartbreaking case of a woman who had desperately sought a get for many long and painful years and is now battling a serious illness.
Attorney Avraham Sofer, who represented the man on behalf of the Public Defender’s Office, stated that this was the longest-standing get refuser in Israel.
“We are glad we were able to help find a solution that allowed the get to be granted and led to the man’s immediate release.”
