Recalcitrant husbands will be removed from the Torah prison wing

The bill initiated by MK Dov Lipman with support of Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau and in cooperation with the Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan sets halachic limits on tough recalcitrant's whom are sitting in jail.

MK Lipman: 'This is an important step on the long road to a situation of zero agunot in Israel. The road is long; meantime, this bill will provide an answer to those Agunot whom are in a most difficult situation, married to very stubborn recalcitrant husbands, "said Lipman." The prohibition on the Torah prison wing will break the spirits of those defaulters hiding behind religion to hurt their wives. "

The restrictions contained in the proposal: prisoners imprisoned because of rejections granting a divorce will not be able to stay at the Torah wing; The Prison Service will not give them the opportunity to make telephone calls except calls to rabbinical court advocates on their behalf or their attorneys. The proposal, by MK Rabbi Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid), and signed by 14 Knesset member, including members of Habayit Hayehudi.

Rabbinical Courts Act authorizes the rabbinical courts to issue various types of restraining orders against husbands who refuse to have judgments of divorce. Among other things, the authority to order the imprisonment imposed on recalcitrant husbands. Such an order can be present only in extreme situations, after there was no other way to convince the objectors. But the existing law does not provide a solution in cases where despite the divorce refusal was arrested; he continues to refuse even from prison.

"Experience shows that recalcitrant husbands are willing to stay in jail for a long time, thus preventing many women to break free from being Agunot" reads the explanatory notes to the law, "In such cases, all the tools that are now law - order prohibiting exit from Israel, prohibiting car license and imposing curves – are not effective, because the recalcitrant husband is already in prison."

Measures included in the bill are likely to harm the rights of the prisoner, but under the letter of the law, "Keys of the cabin are in the hands of any recalcitrant, so that at any time he has the possibility to be free of these restrictions and go free, as he meets the verdict and releases the woman trapped in a state of limbo."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!