In a landmark ruling at the Rabbinical Court in Safed, a woman has finally been granted a get (Jewish divorce decree) after her husband refused to release her for over two decades, bringing an end to a protracted and painful legal and personal struggle. This case is notable as the first in which criminal proceedings were initiated against a recalcitrant husband, culminating in the granting of the divorce following a conditional presidential pardon.
The couple were married in 1997 in Baltimore, USA, and are parents to three children. From the outset, the woman endured severe domestic violence, estrangement from her family, and was denied medical care for their ailing son. In 2003, she filed for divorce; however, her husband failed to appear in court. Subsequently, in 2005, a divorce was granted in his absence by the local court.
Following the family’s immigration to Israel for their son’s Bar Mitzvah, the woman reopened the divorce proceedings in the Israeli Rabbinical Court. Despite multiple efforts, the husband continued to refuse cooperation. In 2012, he was detained for an extended period, but after seven years he was released upon the woman’s closure of the case.
In 2020, the legal department of the Rabbinical Courts took a pioneering step by invoking Article 287 of the Penal Code, which enables prosecution for failure to comply with a legal order. As a result, the husband was tried and sentenced to an additional eighteen months’ imprisonment.
During this second incarceration, negotiations took place under the mediation of the prison system’s rabbinical services, legal aid representatives, and the management of the Rabbinical Courts. Following the direct involvement of the President of the Great Rabbinical Court, Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Yosef, and with support from the President’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, the husband received a conditional presidential pardon in exchange for delivering the *get*. He subsequently agreed to comply.
The divorce document was formalized by Rabbi Yosef Yaguda, head of the Rabbinical Court in Haifa, at the Rabbinical Court in Safed.
Currently residing in Baltimore, the woman has received the long-awaited news of her release from marital bondage. Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, Director of the Rabbinical Courts, commented: “The ability to impose criminal sanctions on recalcitrant husbands continues to yield positive results. Through these measures, we have succeeded in freeing a woman from a prolonged marital impasse. We remain committed to employing all available legal mechanisms to assist those denied a divorce in Israel.”