Larisa Trembovler

Early life

Trembovler was born in Russia. She has a Ph.D. in Medieval Jewish and Arab philosophy and an M.A. in Biology from Moscow University. She has published a novel in Russian (A Mirror for a Prince) co-authored with her first husband. She practices Orthodox Judaism.

Meeting with Yigal Amir

Larisa met Amir in Latvia, where he was teaching Judaism. After her immigration to Israel, she visited Amir with her husband, Benjamin (with whom she has four children), for humanitarian reasons. Larisa expressed ideological support for Amir, and they would correspond and speak on the phone. Larisa divorced her husband in 2003.

Marriage to Yigal Amir

Larisa announced that she was engaged to Amir and wanted to marry while Amir was in jail. In January 2004, after their request was filed, the Israel Prisons Authority declared it would not permit the marriage. In April 2004, the matter was brought before the Tel Aviv District Court. At the time, the Prisons Commissioner instructed his legal aides to defend the decision based on security considerations. But Amir's lawyers said this claim violated their client's basic rights and would not hold up in court. They noted that several Palestinians serving multiple life terms for crimes such as murder have been permitted to marry in prison. Legal analysts have said the Supreme Court would likely uphold any appeal by Amir's lawyer, unless specific legislation is enacted prohibiting him from marrying.

In August 2004 Trimbovler and Amir were wed in a surreptitious proxy marriage. Under Jewish law, a prospective husband can grant a form of "power of attorney" to a chosen representative, who can then transfer a wedding ring, or something of similar value, to the prospective wife. On July 2005 their marriage was validated by an Israeli Rabbinical Court.

Larisa submitted a petition after the Interior Ministry refused to register Amir and Larisa as a married couple. Israel's Justice Ministry defined Amir's marriage as "problematic" because according to a past ruling, a marriage ceremony not conducted in the presence of a rabbi from the Chief Rabbinate is unrecognized.

Conjugal visits and artificial insemination

On February 6, 2006, Haaretz reported that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz had ordered the Interior Ministry to register Amir and Trimbovler as a married couple. They then filed requests with the Prison Authority and petitions to court to enable them to hold conjugal visits or conceive a child through artificial insemination.

In March 2006 the Israeli Prison Service approved Amir's petition for in vitro fertilization. The service was to study how this process would be conducted without Amir leaving the prison. A week later, Amir was caught handing a pre-prepared bag of semen to his wife and the visit was terminated. After the incident a disciplinary tribunal barred visits from his wife for 30 days and phone calls for 14 days. The IVF treatments were stopped after several members of the Knesset submitted a petition.

Up until October 20, 2006 the Shabak security service had opposed unsupervised visits. Four days later, Amir was allowed a 10-hour-long conjugal visit. Five months later it was reported that Larisa was pregnant. On October 28, 2007, she gave birth to a son.