An Israeli man who has refused to grant his wife a divorce for the past 29 years was indicted on Wednesday over his refusal. It is the first time the state has launched a criminal prosecution against a man for refusing to grant his wife a divorce under Jewish law.
In what is considered one of the most severe divorce disputes in Israel's history, Meir Gorodetsky has already been in jail for the past 17 years on orders of the rabbinate for refusing to grant a gett – a Jewish divorce bill – to his wife, Tzviah Gorodetsky, who as a result has been an agunah, or "chained woman," for 29 years.
In an unprecedented move, the Center for Women's Justice, which aims to "end injustices perpetrated against women in the name of religion," established its own private court in June to annul the marriage and free Tzviah Gorodetsky.
But the Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriages and divorces in Israel, does not recognize private marriage annulments and therefore Grodetsky is still considered married.
Last week, Israel Hayom learned that the High Rabbinical Court was insisting on criminally indicting Meir Gorodetsky, even though Tzviah Gorodetsky has said she wants the case closed and would not oppose his release from prison, simply to put the entire matter behind her.
According to the rabbinical court, the significance of the criminal proceedings would be to label divorce refusers as criminal offenders who were violating the public's interests and principles, and that bringing an offender to justice would serve both as a deterrent and as retribution.
However, the Center for Women's Justice was outraged by the indictment, saying the rabbinical court had recommended the measure "for the wrong reasons, and only to counter the private court's ruling to annul the marriage."
"The rabbinical court decided to do everything besides accept the private court's ruling," the center said in a statement.
