Rabbis Seek Move To Jewish Religious Courts For Civil Cases In Israel

In Israel yesterday, a group of rabbis and experts in Jewish law launched "Gazit", a chain of nine Jewish religious courts that they hope will replace the nation's civil courts. Today's Jerusalem Post says that the organizers hope that tort and contract disputes will be settled according to Jewish law in these courts instead of in civil courts under Israeli civil law. They envision the Jewish law courts being used by both Jews and non-Jews. Currently the decisions of these courts will already be recognized by civil courts in the same way that decisions of other arbitral bodies are enforced. Experts say that for this initiative to succeed, issues relating to testimony of women and of non-Jews in Jewish religious courts will need to be worked out.