Man Banned From Leaving Israel For 8000 Years
In a bizarre divorce law, a man has reportedly been banned from leaving Israel for nearly 8,000 years.
In a bizarre divorce law, a man has reportedly been banned from leaving Israel for nearly 8,000 years.
Noam Huppert, an Australian, was married to an Israeli national. His ex-wife moved back to Israel in 2011, when their children were aged three months and five years old. He followed them to Israel in 2012 to stay close to his children. However, he has not been able to leave the country since then. His ex-wife had filed a case in the Israeli court seeking money support for their children. In 2013 the court gave a ‘stay of exit’ order As per the court order, Huppert must pay 5,000 shekels i.e. around Rs. 1 lakh 20 thousand a month for each of his two children until they turn 18. It is unclear if he should pay the entire sum in advance to lift the stay of exit order. Now the court order has been extended and Huppert cannot leave Israel till 31st December 9999. That means that he has been banned from leaving the country for 8000 years.
In Israel, the divorce law means women can slap a travel ban on the father of their children to make sure they will receive child support payments. Also men are expected to pay 100 percent of their income to pay for their kids. Every time they are unable to pay the monthly payment, they face prison for up to 21 days. This law has been dubbed "draconian and excessive" by human rights groups. Huppert told news.com.au. , "I have been locked since 2013. There are many foreign nationals who have been suffering only because they were married to Israeli women. I am one of them.” He said he was speaking out to help others who may suffer this life-threatening experience. British journalist Marianne Azizi, who has been campaigning to raise awareness about the issue, said that it was "almost impossible to ascertain" the exact number of men affected by this law.
