The husband, who refused to divorce his wife, was located by the Rabbinical Court while he was hiding in the battlefields of Sudan. After negotiations with Israeli government officials and upon his return to Ethiopia, he granted the long-awaited Get (Jewish divorce document) through a messenger of the Rabbinical Court.
Eight years ago, without any prior warning, the husband of the Ethiopian Jewish woman disappeared, leaving his wife an agunah. The woman turned to the Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv, and the case was transferred to the Agunot Department under the management of the Rabbis Eliyahu Maymon and Alon Nagosa, who bridges the cultural gap between Ethiopian immigrants and Israeli society.
Initially, the Agunot Department in Ethiopia took action and utilized its means, suspecting that the woman's husband had emigrated to Canada. All efforts were made, but to no avail. Rabbi Nagosa suggested that the husband likely crossed the border to Sudan, where armed conflicts are taking place. After many efforts and with the intervention of the Foreign Ministry, it was revealed that the husband was indeed in the battlefields of Sudan.
Upon receiving information about the whereabouts of the get (divorce certificate) refuser, officials from the Israeli government and the Agunot Department managed to reach the battle zone in Sudan. There, they located the man and engaged in efforts to persuade him to grant a get to his wife in Israel in exchange for his safety and security when and if he returned to Ethiopia. The husband was convinced by their arguments and crossed the border back.
Cross-border divorce
However, when he crossed the border, a new problem arose when Ethiopian authorities claimed that the man had been residing illegally in the country for seven years and therefore he must pay a sum of two dollars for each day. Following the issue that arose, it was decided to allow the granting of the get when the husband is on Ethiopian soil and he was also promised that he would return to Israel. The man agreed to the request, and this morning the woman was released from her agunah status by a representative of the Rabbinical Court and a number of technological means that enabled the granting of the get.
The Rabbinical Courts Director, Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, responded, "The Agunot Division proves time and again that no matter how long and dangerous the journey to release a woman from her agunah status, the Rabbinical Courts will always step in until the goals are achieved."
