Bill expanding rabbinic and Sharia court systems passes into law 65-41

Following an hours-long opposition filibuster, a government-backed law significantly expanding the authority of the state’s rabbinic and Sharia court systems is passed into law by the Knesset, with 65 lawmakers voting in favor and 41 against.

The bill, sponsored by the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah and Shas parties, gives the religious tribunals the power to arbitrate civil disputes which are currently the purview of the secular court system. Rabbinical courts were allowed to act as arbitrators in financial disputes until 2006, when a court decision determined that they had no standing to do so.

The law, which initially allowed the courts to rule on child custody issues, was amended during the legislative process so that it does not apply to married or formerly married couples. It also does not apply to labor law cases unless the matter was freely initiated by an employee rather than an employer.

The legislation stipulates that religious courts will only be allowed to rule on such issues with the consent of both parties and that the rulings reached through rabbinic arbitration cannot violate the Women’s Equal Rights Law or other civil rights statues.

However, critics have asserted that such protections are not enough, given the pressures litigants in religiously conservative communities are likely to face, and the fact that the bill would create a power imbalance that can hurt weaker segments of society, with women’s rights likely to be harmed.