Under Israeli rabbinical law, no woman can get a divorce until her husband utters the magic formula, "I am willing." Husbands may refuse, but to do so can mean imprisonment. That is what happened to Adrian Schwartz, a convicted rapist, and Yehia Avraham, a perpetual ne'er-do-well. Both are stubbornly behind bars in Ramla while their wives face the prospect of never being able to get rid of them.
Adina Schwartz married Adrian, a laborer, in 1967. "He was handsome, had an athletic build and played chess and soccer well," she recently recalled. There was one problem: Adrian stayed out late at...
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