Posted on 09/02/21
Seven years after leaving a Rabbinical Court hearing after refusing to issue his wife a gett, Ronen Vital was arrested by Israel Police on the streets of Tel Aviv and remanded into custody. The case represents one of the longest and most intensive carried out by the Yad La’isha Legal Aid Center of the Ohr Torah Stone network which represented Orly Vital, who has been seeking a divorce for thirteen years.
Orly and Ronen dated as teenagers married a few years later and had four children. However, the marriage deteriorated and Orly asked for a divorce. While proclaiming to the rabbinical court that he wanted to reconcile and save the marriage, Ronen was privately telling his wife that he would never grant her a gett if she didn’t comply with specific financial demands.
Orly turned to Yad La’isha, the Ohr Torah Stone network's Legal Aid Center and Hotline for agunot. Seven years ago, the case was eventually heard by the Supreme Rabbinical Court. Chief Rabbi David Lau informed Ronen that if he didn't grant Orly a get he would be arrested. Ronen asked for a brief recess to consult with his legal team, but did not return to the courtroom and fled the building.
The Rabbinical Court issued an arrest warrant against Ronen listing him as a gett refuser and allowed for public distribution of his image to assist in the efforts to identify his whereabouts. Over the years, nothing - no news of him.
For the entire period, his wife Orly remained trapped in the marriage. While Ronen made no effort to contact her or their four children. Yad La’isha remained committed to the case, including investing in private investigators over the years.
Then, in early July, new information was divulged to Yad La'isha regarding Ronen's whereabouts. Due to a donation from a generous private donor to Ohr Torah Stone, a team of investigators from the S. Caspi firm began an intense manhunt including hundreds of hours of surveillance at a cost of more than 100,000 NIS, in close coordination with the Israel Police.
On Monday, August 23rd, Yad La'isha director Pnina Omer received a call from the private investigator that Ronen Vital had been spotted sitting in his car on a Tel Aviv street. Omer immediately transferred the details to the senior investigative officer in the police Jaffa branch who was familiar with and supportive of the case. Uniformed officers were dispatched to the scene. After first refusing to identify himself, Ronen was taken into custody and was brought before the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court on Tuesday morning. However, he continued to refuse to issue the requested gett.
Orly Vital responded emotionally to the development saying, “It’s incredible to think that he’s literally been living under our noses for all these years, less than an hour from our home. I only hope that he’ll come to his senses and bring this painful chapter to an end, for the good of everyone including himself.”
Giving thanks to Chief Rabbi and head of the Beit Din Rabbi David Lau and his office for their support, and to the Israeli Police and the Jaffa-Tel Aviv officers who have worked to make this arrest, Yad La'isha's rabbinical court advocate and civil attorney Tehila Cohen said this case should be a signal, “that every gett abuser should know that we won’t rest or stay silent until every woman forced to live in these chained marriages is set free. We will continue to do everything in our legal power to make that possible.”