Fight Over Tzfat: Finance Ministry Pushes to Shut Down the Rabbinical Court

Israel’s Finance Ministry is advancing a plan to close the rabbinical court in Tzfat, a move that could take effect as early as October, after the *Tishrei* holidays, according to a report today (Tuesday) on Kan News on Reshet Bet. If the move is ultimately completed, the report said, one of Israel’s oldest rabbinical courts is expected to shut down. It serves hundreds of thousands of residents in the Galilee and Golan regions and handles divorces, inheritances, and other matters under the jurisdiction of the rabbinical courts.

The court’s closure is expected to have a direct impact on residents of northern Israel, who would be forced to travel to the rabbinical court in Tiberias in order to manage legal proceedings and receive services that have until now been provided in Tzfat.

A few weeks ago, Israel’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi David Yosef, visited the rabbinical court in Tzfat. During his meeting with staff members, he pledged that the court would not be closed. Despite that commitment, the report said, efforts to move the plan forward have continued. As part of the preparations for the site’s closure, enforcement office employees recently arrived at the building after the offices were promised for their use.

Opposition to the move has also been expressed in an appeal sent by a number of rabbis to Israel’s Chief Rabbi. In the letter they sent him, they wrote in part: "The court in Tzfat has existed continuously for at least 500 years! There is absolutely no basis for saying that in our time there is no need for this court; where will litigants from the entire eastern Galilee region and the Hula Valley turn?".

The Rabbinical Courts Administration said that "the court administration continues to do everything in its power to stop the closure of the court. The issue is currently under discussion with the director of government housing." On the other hand, the Finance Ministry, which is responsible for the government housing administration, claimed that the move was made at the request of the court system itself.

In the Finance Ministry’s response, it was stated: "Following the request of the rabbinical courts to carry out a merger between the courts in Tzfat and Tiberias for the sake of economic and operational efficiency, government housing acted to carry out their request."