Knesset says it will vote on bill to divide assets before divorce

Coalition of women's and religious organizations said Itzik was violating house.

By DAN IZENBERG
knesset 88 (photo credit: )
knesset 88
(photo credit: )
The petition did the trick. On Monday, the Knesset informed the High Court of Justice it would vote this week on the final reading of a bill aimed at dividing the assets of couples undergoing divorce procedures even before the divorce was granted. The aim of the bill is to do away with attempts at economic extortion by one spouse against the other who is seeking the divorce by demanding a larger share of the couple's assets than called for by law in return for consent to the divorce. According to the petitioners, it is the husband who tries to extort the wife in the majority of cases. The haredi parties strongly oppose the bill, regarding it as an attempt to weaken the rabbinical courts' power. Nevertheless, it was approved by a vote of 48 to 16 in the plenum in a second reading on July 27, the last day of the Knesset summer session. The plenum was then due to hold a third and final reading immediately afterwards. However, at the end of the second reading, Shas demanded the final vote be regarded as a vote of no confidence in the government. According to Knesset House rules, the vote under these circumstances is postponed until the next day. However, since the Knesset adjourned for the summer recess on July 27, the final vote on the bill was supposed to be postponed until the opening day of the winter session, which took place on October 27. However, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik refused to put the vote on the agenda that day or for the following two days on which the plenum convened. She did so despite requests and reminders by the petitioners before each of the three plenary sessions to put the bill to a vote. At the end of that week, a coalition of social justice, women's and religious organizations petitioned the High Court of Justice, charging that Itzik had violated the Knesset rules by refusing to bring the bill to a vote. The petitioners urged the court to hear the case as quickly as possibly, since the Knesset is due to disperse next week in preparation for new elections. The High Court ordered the state to file its preliminary response to the petition by 2 p.m. on Monday. In its response, the Knesset legal adviser Nurit Elstein, who had agreed with the petitioners' demand all along, told the court that the Knesset will hold the vote on the bill this week.