A touching story that is ending in divorce

The predicament of an Israeli woman, who has been struggling to get a divorce for over 30 years, is complicated by the fact that rabbis declared her a "moredet," or rebellious wife, for leaving the family home – even though she says she left under the duress of beatings.

Her husband denies being violent with his wife, according to his lawyer. "She left the house first". But she says it was due to the fear of stress and divorce.

The lawyer said his client had not granted a divorce because of the dispute over how to divide up the family house. The wife said she was ready to give up all claims to theirhouse when she first asked for a divorce in 1967. But she now needs a large share to settle the lawyers’ fees that have piled up over the years.

"He said he would never give me a divorce in his life. And that’s how it remains to this day." She had no say in her marriage at age 6, which was arranged by relatives in Mahowit, Yemen, after her parents died in an epidemic.

The two were separated during the "Magic Carpet" airlift that brought thousands of Yemeni Jews to Israel in the 1950s. They were reunited by relatives in Israel about five years later when she was 14 The Shukers moved into a one room shack without a bathroom or kitchen near Rehovoth in central Israel.