In a first ruling of its kind, Israeli authorities have seized the passport of a US businessman and barred him from leaving the country for more than a year - claiming that he is responsible for his son's refusal to grant his wife a divorce.

With the punishment, Israel's rabbinical court system has dramatically extended its reach by punishing a parent for his son's actions in a bid to solve a bitter, yearslong dispute.

Under millennia-old Jewish law, a woman needs the approval of her husband to dissolve a marriage. In Israel, where all marriages are subject to religious law, this norm has left thousands of women in legal limbo due to husbands who refuse to grant divorces.