The Constitution, Law, & Justice Committee of the Knesset, headed by MK Gilad Kariv (Labor), will hold a discussion on Wednesday regarding the implementation of a law applying sanctions to get refusers.
In advance of the discussion, the committee published data on the number of get refusers in Israel, obtained from the various rabbinical courts. The data do not distinguish between male and female get refusers.
Among the findings: There are currently 46 get refusers in Israel, 25 of which are new cases from the current year (2021). 9 cases date from 2020, 3 from 2019, 0 from 2018, and 9 from earlier years.
The data also reveals that the duration of divorce proceedings in the rabbinical courts in Israel (from when a case is opened until it is settled) is significantly shorter than divorce proceedings conducted via the secular courts.
When the two sides jointly submit a request for a get, divorce proceedings are usually concluded within 50 days of the submission. When the two sides come to an agreement during the process, the case is usually closed within 104 days on average. However, when a case is opened by only one spouse without the cooperation of the partner, the average duration of proceedings is far longer – 399 days.