The Family Court recently rejected a request by an ultra-Orthodox man to conduct a tissue test to prove paternity of his seven children - five of whom were born within the marriage, and two before the marriage.
The man, who recently divorced his wife, asked the court to order a paternity test for his children, raising suspicions that his ex-wife cheated on him during their marriage, and therefore he is not at all sure that the children, some or all, are indeed his.
The man claimed that the paternity test is necessary and just, and is needed to ensure that he is not paying child support for 7 children who may not be his.
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Through attorney Ruth Dayan-Wolfner, the woman argued that the father's lawsuit should be dismissed out of hand, since it had already been submitted to the Rabbinical Court and rejected.
The woman also claimed that the man is taking various steps to postpone as much as he can the child support payments for the seven minor children, for whom he has not yet paid a single shekel since the couple's separation in April 2012.
The representative of the Attorney General, who was present at the hearing, also noted that the Ministry of Social Affairs opposes the demand in general and in particular in light of a previous decision by the Rabbinical Court.
In his decision to reject the man's demand for a paternity test, Judge Nachshon Fisher noted: "I cannot accept a situation in which a parent would dare to try and sacrifice his children on the altar of thoughts, not to mention hallucinations that afflict him... The plaintiff's plight has been addressed time and again both in the rabbinical courts and in this court, and now we must address the plight of 7 children and their mother, whose good name and future the plaintiff does not hesitate to endanger without any reason or justification.".
In addition to rejecting the request, the court imposed on the man expenses of 25,000 shekels for the woman's benefit and a payment of 5,000 shekels to the state treasury.
