ISRAEL HAS NINE SYARIAH COURTS, APPOINTS FIRST FEMALE SYARIAH JUDGE

Israel appointed female judge to Sharia court for first time

breaking with Jewish ultra-Orthodox that forbids women from serving as jurists

Judicial Appointments Committee voted unanimously for appointment of Hana Mansour-Khatib to Muslim court, of which there are nine in Israel.

Jewish women forbidden by Israeli law from sitting in Rabbinical courts

Sharia courts decide on family, marriage, divorce, custody of children. 

ultra-Orthodox politicians blocked appointment of female judges to avoid precedent

Mansour-Khatib, to be sworn in by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin

a family lawyer from Tamra, a predominantly Arab city in northern Israel

She became first female judge to be appointed to religious court in Israel