Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana is set to propose a bill to the Knesset Sunday to grant local authorities the ability to prosecute religious divorce refusers who flee to Israel knowing no legal proceeding can be launched against them in the Jewish state.
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According to Jewish law, unless a woman is granted a divorce by her husband, she becomes an agunah, "anchored" and "chained" in her marriage without the ability to remarry.
Israel has in recent years become a haven for such refusers due to the fact that the local justice system cannot prosecute a non-Israeli for refusal to grant a get, a Jewish writ of divorce.
In July 2018, under the initiative of Knesset member Aliza Lavie, rabbinical courts were granted temporary authority to hear divorce claims of non-Israeli citizens as well.
According to reports, in the last three years, more than 35 women obtained divorce papers thanks to the temporary law. As a result of such success, Matana is now looking to make the law part of permanent legislation.
"Israel will not be a haven for divorce refusers," he told Israel Hayom. "The temporary grant proved to be a valuable tool against get-refusers ... Therefore, I made the decision to bring it into permanent legislation. The issue of divorce refusal requires in-depth attention and I intend on making sure that the government does its utmost to bring about solutions."
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