M ow
Israeli Court Rules
On Divorce Law
Rabbinical courts
have enjoyed sole
jurisdiction over
marriage and
divorce.
supposed to mix in and give
orders to the rabbinic courts,
to order them to make deci-
sions according to secular
principles."
Rabbi Ravitz had been
poised to formally request a
government response to the
ruling but said he was asked
by Justice Minister David
Libai to postpone his request
for a week so that Mr. Libai
could examine the ruling
before responding.
A special Knesset session
has been called for this week
to discuss the ruling.
Rabbi Ravitz described the
ruling as "not only chutz-
pah" and "provocation" but
also as a violation of the
secular law that provides
that rabbinical courts make
their decisions according to
Halachah.
WHAT'S NEW
Avraham Ravitz:
Senses a violation.
He also said no religious
judge would abide by it.
The decision has delighted
many women, who see more
justice in a law that divides
marital assets in half. Civil
courts call for equal division
of all marital assets upon
divorce.
Miriam Isserow, attorney
for the Israel Women's Net-
work, called the ruling
"precedent-setting" and said
it would "neutralize the cur-
rent disadvantage women
have in the rabbinical
courts."
Nomi Blumenthal, a
Knesset member from the
Likud, also hailed the deci-
sion.
"Women are victims of the
religious courts in matters of
personal status," said Ms.
Blumenthal, who chairs the
Knesset subcommittee on
violence against women.
Ms. Blumenthal said she
has high respect for religious
law and is not seeking a
separation between religion
and state.
But she said she is "asking
for justice for women" in a
religious system which dis-
criminates against them.
Under Israeli law, rab-
binical courts have enjoyed
sole jurisdiction over mar-
riage and divorce between
Jews. But couples have had
a choice between civil and
religious courts on
"incidental" matters such as
property settlements in
divorce cases, Ms. Isserow
explained.
In rabbinical courts, com-
monly held assets are divid-
DIVORCE page 48
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FEBRU AR Y
Jerusalem (JTA) — In a
landmark decision, Israel's
Supreme Court has ruled
that rabbinical courts must
apply civil, rather than re-
ligious, law to property set-
tlements in divorce cases.
Last week's decision over-
turns a ruling by the
Supreme Rabbinical Court
here, which had not recog-
nized the rights of a
divorcee, Chana Bavli, to
half of all assets ac-
cumulated in her marriage.
The groundbreaking rul-
ing is sending shock waves
through the religious estab-
lishment, which views this
as an unprecedented erosion
of its traditional jurisdiction
and has vowed to resist the
measure.
"The Jewish judges will
not (comply with) the deci-
sion, because it is not accor-
ding to Halachah," religious
law, declared Rabbi Eliyahu
Ben-Dahan, director of
Israel's rabbinical courts.
More staunch rejection of
the ruling came from Rabbi
Avraham Ravitz, a Knesset
member from the United
Torah Party.
"The so-called Supreme
Court," he said, "is not
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