![]() ![]() But creating a consensus across the spectrum is challenging in Israel.įor Arab and Palestinian women, the proposed overhaul is frightening, but so is the status quo. Weiss and Ben Dror are part of a contingent of Israeli feminist groups that are trying to raise awareness about the dangers to women they believe the rabbinic court expansion poses. Formally, a woman may decide for herself which court the case goes to, she said, “but informally, if she goes against this, she’s considered a troublemaker in her community, and that means she doesn’t really have equal say”. ![]() In order to have cases heard by a rabbinic court, both parties must consent to having their cases diverted from the regular court system.īen Dror said consent was difficult to obtain in ultra-religious communities where women may be pressured to have their cases heard in the rabbinic system. The rabbinical court of Tel Aviv, which is the headquarters of the chief rabbinate. “Even if we put women judges in there, they’ll still apply patriarchal and biased laws.” But rules of evidence and burdens of proof are unclear,” Weiss said. ![]() And I’d imagine that’s what they’ll do when they deal with civil matters, too. “The rabbinic courts act like mediators to try and get the parties to reach some sort of agreement. Rabbinic courts have also been accused of making it extremely difficult for women to receive gets, or Jewish divorces, from their husbands. According to Dr Susan Weiss of the Centre for Women’s Justice, which provides legal aid and advocacy for women in Israel, rules allowing female witnesses are inconsistently applied, and rabbinical judges have barred female witnesses from testifying, even in domestic abuse cases. The rabbinic courts follow halacha, Jewish law, and do not allow women to be judges. Under the proposal, which has been largely overlooked by the protest movement, rabbinic courts would be granted the power to officiate on civil issues for the first time in 15 years, giving them equal status to the secular justice system. At present, rabbinic courts preside only over divorce cases, with some additional will and estate arbitration and religious conversion-related cases. ![]()
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