Australian Man Barred From Leaving Israel For 8,000 Years Due To Divorce Law

An Australian man has been barred from leaving Israel for almost 8,000 years as part of a divorce law in the country.

After 44-year-old Noam Huppert's wife filed for divorce in Israel, a court has banned him from leaving the country until Dec. 31 in the year 9999. Huppert has been ordered to pay more than $3.34 million in future child developments if he wants to leave the country, News.com.au reported.

Huppert, who works as an analytical chemist for a pharmaceutical company, moved to Israel in 2012, a year after his then wife moved along with their children. When his wife filed for divorce in 2013, the court ordered a “stay-of-exit” order, banning Huppert from leaving the country, for work or for holiday.

“Since 2013, I am locked in Israel,” Huppert said, explaining his ordeal. However, Huppert added he was not the sole victim of the bizarre law, and decided to speak out for other Australian citizens who are trapped in the country. Many are "persecuted by the Israeli ‘justice’ system only because they were married to Israeli women," Huppert told News.com.au

Marianne Azizi, an independent journalist who has been working to raise awareness about the issue, said there could be hundreds of victims of the law. However, very little is known about the law outside the country. Azizi said it is “almost impossible to ascertain” the exact number of men affected. “This is a highly guarded secret,” she added.

“A woman can easily put a travel ban on the father, with a demand for child support which can extend to the entire duration of the childhood,” Sorin Luca, the director who made "No Exit Order," an independent documentary based on the issue in 2019 said, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State has cautioned its citizens about the potential issue in its travel advisory to Israel. The department warns the citizens should be aware that "they may be subject to involuntary and prolonged stays (and even imprisonment) in Israel if a case is filed against them in a religious court, even if their marriage took place in the United States, and regardless of whether their spouse is present in Israel."