Opposition to granting arbitration authority to the Rabbinical Courts (2025-2026).

The Rabbinical Courts in Israel have jurisdiction over the marriage and divorce of Jews. Like any other governmental authority, their jurisdiction is limited to the issues defined by law. Nevertheless, until 2006 they accepted cases in civil matters and adjudicated them as arbiters, ostensibly on the basis of the consent of both parties to the dispute, without the law giving them the authority to act in this manner. In 2006, the High Court of Justice ruled that this was indeed illegal, and since then the courts have been trying to influence legislation to give them the authority. In 2025, the efforts were stepped up, and the legislative process was a step away from passing the law. We were there to try to prevent it.

A position paper with principled reservations about the law (hebrew)

Protocol of a discussion in the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women in which we explained why the consent of the parties in the Rabbinical Courts cannot be relied upon (hebrew)

A position paper delving into the fact that the law gives problematic authority to the courts to determine discriminatory policies (hebrew)