Israel's first female Sharia judge sworn in

Jerusalem: Israel on Monday swore in its first female judge to its Muslim religious court system, the first woman to preside in any religious court in the Jewish state.

Hana Khatib, an attorney from the northern town of Tamra, became a r qadi, judge in arabic, in the Muslim court system that deals with personal law at a ceremony in the presidential residence in Jerusalem. “This appointment and my success in achieving it is a success for the legal system and for women,” she said.

“We see that the sharia system is kind to women and with this achievement we give them their rights.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he hoped other courts, including Jewish ones, would follow suit. “This is testament to the positive changes in the status of women,” he said.

Justice minister Ayelet Shaked was also in attendance, as were a number of Arab Israeli parliamentarians and senior figures.

President of the Islamic Sharia Court Sheikh Abdel al-Hakim Samara said the appointment would be the “first in a series” of women serving in religious courts.

In Israel, family law — divorce, marriage, endowments — falls under the jurisdiction of religious courts, and separate systems exist for the country’s different creeds.