An Australian citizen has been barred from leaving Israel, even for holidays, trapping him in the country for nearly 8000 years, after his Israeli wife filed a divorce case against him.
A local court had issued a "stay-of-exit" to Noam Huppert (44) back in 2013, barring him from leaving the country until December 31, 9999, or until he pays more than $3 million in future child support payments.
According to a news report, Huppert, who works as an analytical chemist for a pharmaceutical company, moved to Israel in 2012 to stay closer to his two young children after his former spouse returned to the country the previous year. Soon after her return, she filed a case in an Israeli court under the divorce law.
The local law has been dubbed "draconian and excessive" by human rights groups. "I am locked since 2013," news.com.au quoted Huppert as saying.
Reports claim that an independent journalist has been working on the issue to raise awareness about this law. But journalists suggested there could be “hundreds” of Australian citizens in the same situation.
The relatively obscure aspect of Israeli divorce law attracts little attention inside the country and even less outside of it. A woman can easily put a travel ban on her husband, with a demand for child support which can extend to the entire duration of the childhood.