The Supreme Court heard arguments Sunday for and against the extradition of fugitive William Nakash to France, but reached no decision.
The issue is whether a ruling by the Jerusalem region rabbinical court takes precedence over the extradition order signed by the minister of justice.
The rabbinical court has banned Nakash from leaving the country until he grants his wife, Rina, a divore. Otherwise she would become an “aguna” (abandoned woman) – forbidden to remarry under religious law.
Nakash, an Algerian-born Jew, fled to Israel three years ago to escape arrest in France for the murder of an Arab in the city of Besncon. He was tried and convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In Israel, he won the support of Orthodox and nationalist groups who maintained that Nakash killed the Arab to defend his own life against a politically motivated attack. Israeli jurists who investigated the case found that the killing was the result of a quarrel among under world elements in Besancon and that one of Nakash’s accomplices was in fact an Arab.
The French authorities have since agreed to a new trial for Nakash if he is extradited. His supporters say his life would be in danger in a French prison.
The Supreme Court refused to hear other pleas on grounds that the only issue at the hearing is the validity of the extradition order.
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