65-year-old Israeli woman released from paying million-dollar debt: "She is not guilty"

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court approved a financial rehabilitation program for a 65-year-old widow and mother of four, one of whom has cancer. Despite a debt of over one million shekels, the court ruled that the woman must repay only 21,600 shekels, after which the remaining obligations will be written off. Judge David Shaul Gabai-Richter was impressed by the woman's difficult fate and the special circumstances of the debt.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court approved an unusual financial rehabilitation program for a 65-year-old woman, a widow and mother of four, one of whom has cancer. Despite a debt of over one million shekels, the court ruled that the woman must repay only 21,600 shekels, after which she will be released from the remaining obligations. The woman lives in a social housing apartment of the company "Amidar". She grew up in extremely difficult conditions: her mother suffered from a mental illness, and several siblings had Down syndrome. Later, she married a man who had a drug addiction. Most of the debts arose 40 years ago, during her marriage, and were taken for the most basic needs of the family. At the court hearing, the woman said through tears: "What is my sin? That I wanted to raise four children?" Judge David Shaul Gabai-Richter wrote in his decision: "Sometimes even if the paper can bear a certain decision, the human heart cannot bear it." To fully write off the debts, the woman must pay 21,600 shekels, which corresponds to 36 monthly payments of 600 shekels.