Coalition reportedly seeking to pass bill expanding authority of rabbinical courts

By Sam Sokol 22 March 2026, 3:55 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef at a Menorah lighting ceremony on the sixth night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, at the great synagogue in Tel Aviv, December 30, 2024. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90

The coalition will attempt to pass a controversial bill expanding the authority of the state’s rabbinic court system tomorrow, Channel 12 reports.

According to the network, the bill, which would give the courts power to arbitrate civil disputes including over child custody, will go before the Knesset plenum for its final two readings tomorrow, just over a month after lawmakers on the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee voted 5-3 to advance it to its final legislative hurdle.

Rabbinical courts were allowed to act as arbitrators in financial disputes until 2006, when a court determined that they had no standing to do so.

Rabbinical courts are part of Israel’s judiciary, handling legal matters such as divorce, wills and inheritances, and conversions. The system comprises 12 nationwide regional courts, with the Great Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem serving as the highest appellate authority. The president of the Great Rabbinical Court, a role held by one of Israel’s chief rabbis, oversees the rabbinical court system. Currently, the position is held by Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef.

While the legislation, sponsored by lawmakers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, stipulates that religious courts would only be allowed to rule on such issues with the consent of both parties, critics assert that the bill would create a power imbalance that’s harmful to weaker segments of society, with women’s rights likely to be harmed.

According to the bill’s explanatory notes, it would apply to state sharia courts as well.

“While Israeli citizens are running to safe rooms and shelters, the Israeli government is rushing to expand the powers of the rabbinical courts to include civil arbitration as well,” Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman posts on X, criticizing the bill’s reported advancement. “When the State of Israel is at war, instead of taking care of the citizens, you’re taking care of the political fixers?”

Last November, the Knesset passed a law temporarily expanding the authority of rabbinical courts to rule on matters relating to child support payments, which the High Court of Justice had previously ruled that they lacked the authority do.