Rabbinic group: Deny entry to Israel for men who won’t grant wives divorce

Europe’s principal rabbinic group has suggested Jewish men who refuse to grant their wives a religious divorce should be refused entry to Israel.

The proposal by the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) came ahead of International Agunah Day.  “The plight of the Agunah is heartbreaking and resolving it must be at the forefront of the Jewish conscience,” said the CER president, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt. “It is important to raise our voice about get refusal because of the harm it causes to the Jewish nation.”

He said one way to force the hand of Jewish men in the Diaspora who were refusing to grant their ex-wives a religious divorce was to stop them visiting Israel.  Goldschmidt said he hoped it became legislation so rabbinical courts could “use the power of Israeli law”.