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Israel

International move on agunot

June 16, 2016 10:54

By

Nathan Jeffay,

Nathan Jeffay

1 min read

The Israeli Chief Rabbinate has announced a move to help the plight of agunot, women whose husbands are refusing to give them religious divorce documents.

In Israeli law, these men can be subjected to legal sanctions - but when they leave the country, Israeli rabbis are powerless.

In Brussels last week, Israeli and European rabbis announced that the Israeli database of get-refusing men will be made international, so that diaspora communities will know to give such men the cold shoulder. The database will also share names of European get-refusers.

Eliyahu Maimon, who heads the Israeli rabbinate's division for dealing with get refusers, was quoted by Haaretz saying: "This is only the first step. Eventually, we plan to include rabbinical courts from the United States as well."

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