Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., May 14, 2009 Iyyar 20, 5769 | | Israel Time: 09:46 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File TLV 100
Last update - 05:02 13/05/2009
AG orders probe of rabbis who divorced mentally disabled woman
By Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: mental disability 

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has ordered a rare criminal investigation of four rabbinical court judges suspected of giving a divorce to a mentally disabled woman without her knowledge or consent.

All four dayanim continue to serve on the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court, where they handle thousands of divorce cases every year. The four - Dov Domb, Avidan Yitzhak Halevy, Yitzhak Almaliah and Zvi Ben Yaakov - are all senior members of the court.

The incident under investigation, first reported in Haaretz last month, began in January 2007, with the marriage of two mentally disabled people. Sometime after the wedding, the groom's father decided he wanted the marriage ended and sought help from an in-law, who happened to be Domb's brother-in-law.
Advertisement
The brother-in-law took the couple to the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court, but according to the divorced woman, he did not tell her the true purpose of the visit. Instead, he said they were going to sign application forms for public housing.

The judicial ombudsman later investigated the case, in response to a complaint from the Na'amat women's organization, and found that the brother-in-law had given Domb a blank form bearing only a signature - which turned out to be the brother-in-law's rather than the groom's. Based on this form, Domb opened divorce proceedings and asked the couple to sign the necessary forms. Later that same day, acting with almost unprecedented speed, the court granted the divorce.

The judicial ombudsman later concluded that the other three dayanim, who signed off on the divorce decree "without taking any of the steps necessitated by a proceeding of this type and the nature of the litigants," had done so as a favor to Domb.

Despite queries to the office of the president of the Rabbinical Court of Appeals, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the dayanim's responses could not be obtained Tuesday night.

The above case is not the only complaint that has been filed about Domb: About nine months ago, another woman complained to the judicial ombudsman that he summoned her to his house in Bnei Brak, without her husband present, and spent three hours trying to convince her to agree to the husband's divorce request. The ombudsman found the woman's complaint justified.

In a letter to Rabbi Amar, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, Domb wrote, "The exceptional difficulty of conducting negotiations between the sides led the court to think it would be appropriate to meet with the woman and her parents out of court, on the assumption that in a less pressured, rigid and loaded atmosphere than that of the court, the chances of persuading the woman to soften her positions would be greater."

However, he denied having exerted any pressure on the woman, and insisted that neither she nor her parents had complained about the meeting at the time.

The judicial ombudsman, however, said that for a judge to meet one party to a case without the other present is inappropriate without very good reason, which did not exist in this case, as it could damage the public's faith in the justice system.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Theft in Gaza
Elite IDF soldier confesses to stealing credit card from Gaza home during Gaza war.
Raising the Bar
Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli voted 3rd hottest woman by Maxim magazine.
  1.   The divorce may not be valid 07:14  |  The husband is menta 13/05/09
  2.   modest solution 07:16  |  potobac 14/05/09
 Haaretz Hot Topics
The Pope in the Holy Land
Durban II conference
Iran: Nuclear and regional ambitions
Israel vs. Hamas
Air strike in Sudan


More Headlines
03:11 Obama warns Netanyahu: Don't surprise me with Iran strike
09:13 With rape trial set to begin, Katsav vows to prove his innocence
09:32 Pope heads to Nazareth for final Mass, Netanyahu meet
03:27 IDF probing whether troops forced Gaza man to drink urine
05:26 Ex-diplomats, U.S. Jews urge Obama to push two-state solution
06:48 Gideon Levy / Anti-Semitism is rearing its head in Tel Aviv
18:45 INTERACTIVE GUIDE / Pope Benedict XVI in the Holy Land
13:52 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
08:09 Interview / Livni explains her support for two-state solution
08:01 New West Bank roads jeopardizing chances for peace accord
02:51 Peres to tell Jordan's king: Netanyahu committed to peace
05:34 Why won't Israel name Jaffa square after Begin and Sadat?
08:22 Analysis / Budget affair has left Netanyahu bruised and weakened
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
Spring Specials-Dan Hotels
Jerusalem from 179$. Tel-Aviv from 223$. Herzliya from 336$
The Meier on Rothschild Tower
Masterpiece Residence in the Heart of Tel Aviv
Dead Sea Skin Care
Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
Camp Kimama Israel 2009
The best place for your children this summer
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Jewish Singles Personal Ads
Find the love of your life on JDate.com
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | | Israel 2009 election results
Site rules | Makom: Engaging on Israel | Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved