Israeli State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan has granted dayonim in Yerushalayim and Haifa the right to open criminal proceedings against get refusers. This will enable the botei din to imprison them for renewable four-year terms in criminal prisons and eventually enable the extradition of recalcitrant husbands from overseas, Ha’aretz reported.
Two particular cases prompted the innovation. One is that of Tzvia Gordetsky whose husband has refused to divorce her for seventeen years despite sixteen years of imprisonment. The other case involves a United States husband who has been jailed 3.5 years since his wife applied for a get while they were vacationing in Israel. Of 150 cases of get refusal in Israel, 130 husbands have fled abroad, ten are in Israel and ten are in Israeli jails. Another ten husbands cannot be located.
“This is an important advance in our steadfast struggle against the phenomenon of get refusal,” said Rav Shimon Yaakobi, Director of Rabbinical Botei Din. “I hope that this step will lead to the maximum reduction of igun and allow the future extradition of husbands who fled Israel.”
{Matzav.com Israel News}