Tel Aviv Court Upholds Arbitration Ruling Ending Long-Standing Ponovezh Yeshiva Dispute

The Tel Aviv District Court has upheld an arbitration ruling by retired Judge David Cheshin concerning the Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, rejecting a request to annul the decision. The ruling requires Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz's followers to vacate the yeshiva premises by September 30. Additionally, Rabbi Markovitz and his group must pay approximately 10 million shekels, including 7.5 million shekels in usage fees and 2.5 million shekels for building maintenance costs. The court also prohibited Rabbi Markovitz's faction from using the "Ponovezh Yeshiva" name or logo and barred him from presenting himself as the yeshiva's head.

This arbitration decision resolves a protracted internal conflict that split the Ponovezh Yeshiva, a flagship institution in the ultra-Orthodox Torah world, into two rival factions. One faction is led by Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman, son-in-law and heir of the legendary yeshiva head, and the other by Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz, Kahaneman's brother-in-law. The ruling separates the factions and removes the group that established a competing yeshiva within the institution, which had engaged in rebellion and violence against the yeshiva's president.

Judge Yehudit Shevah described the dispute as long and bitter, noting numerous arbitrators and court rulings failed to resolve it, with tensions escalating into serious violence and vandalism. The arbitration found that Rabbi Kahaneman is the rightful successor to his father's rights and authority over the yeshiva, with full decision-making power. Since 2005, the two factions have operated separately and corporately distinct. Rabbi Markovitz's rights expired in 2007 after he rebelled against the yeshiva's organizational structure and violated his appointment terms. The ruling also declared that Markovitz unlawfully holds real estate on the yeshiva grounds.

The court rejected claims challenging the arbitrator's authority to rule contrary to a previous court decision, clarifying that the arbitration interprets and applies prior rulings to current realities. The petitioners against the arbitration were ordered to pay 75,000 shekels in legal costs. Lawyers representing Rabbi Markovitz included Eyal Rozovsky, Yossi Ettinger, and Amir Pinkus, while Ponovezh Yeshiva was represented by Ehud Artzi, Ran Feldman, and Rivka Ariel.