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Case: HCJ 5387/13 Plonit v. Petach Tikvah District Rabbinic Court
September 9, 2014
In 2010, the rabbinic court issued a restraining order against an Israeli woman who had been residing in South Africa since 1988, claiming that she had been refusing to agree to a religious divorce. The woman countered that she agreed to the Jewish divorce, but that her husband was using the Israeli courts to gain an advantage in the divorce proceedings taking place in South Africa. The restraining order stood for 4 years, preventing the woman from returning to South Africa. When it expired in 2014, the woman returned to South Africa. The rabbinic court reissued it.
In 2014, CWJ filed an amicus brief in support of the woman’s petition asking the Court to declare that the rabbinic court had no authority to issue the restraining order and to deny her the right of travel.
In 2014, the Court held that the rabbinic court must withdraw the restraining orders against her, thus limiting the long arm authority of the rabbinic court to restrain the travel of foreign residents, even if they are Israeli citizens.