Rav Dovid Yosef, the Rishon LeTzion, welcomed the approval of the new arbitration law, declaring that it restores the authority of batei din and corrects what he described as decades of injustice, while urging the public to turn to beis din rather than secular courts.

In his weekly shiur, Rav Yosef spoke with strong satisfaction about the law’s passage, explaining that it grants batei din official legal standing to adjudicate financial disputes as agreed-upon arbitrators. He sharply criticized past rulings of Israel’s High Court that removed this authority, describing them as unjustified.

He said, “For 60 years, the batei din had authority to adjudicate with the consent of the parties. Suddenly, 20 years ago, three Supreme Court justices came and decided there is no authority. Why? Just because. The law did not change, nothing was written—suddenly they ruled there is no authority. This is simply a terrible injustice.”

Rav Yosef added that restrictions were later imposed preventing official dayanim from even volunteering to hear financial cases outside official hours.

He said, “A directive was issued that even on a voluntary basis, any official dayan is forbidden from serving as a dayan in monetary cases. Why? Just because. This was a terrible chillul Hashem that in our own country they forced us to go to secular courts.”

He went on to emphasize the depth of training and expertise required of dayanim, noting that those serving in the rabbinical court system are highly qualified.

He said, “Every dayan in the rabbinical courts must study for 10 years, day and night, Choshen Mishpat, in order to know the material. The most outstanding dayanim are in our batei din. Today, when people go to private batei din, if one side doesn’t like the ruling, he runs to secular court and cancels it by claiming the ruling is correct according to Torah but not according to state law. Now, with the approval of the law, the authority of batei din has full legal force.”

Addressing the halachic severity of turning to secular courts, Rav Yosef warned that doing so constitutes a rejection of Torah law.

He said, “This is about restoring the religion to its proper place. We believe in the Torah and not in their laws. Chazal say that the First Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because judges did not rule according to Torah. We want to save Am Yisrael so that the settlement here should not be destroyed, chas veshalom.”

He further ruled that even participating in certain legal processes carries serious halachic concerns.

He said, “Even in the enforcement office, it is strictly forbidden to purchase from there, because they issue rulings not according to halacha, and this is outright theft.”

Concluding his remarks, Rav Yosef thanked the lawmakers who advanced the legislation and called on the public to bring their disputes before batei din.

He said, “I call on every Torah-observant Jew: do not go to secular courts, do not go to arkaos. ‘They have forsaken Me, the source of living waters, to dig for themselves broken cisterns.’ The gates of the batei din will be open, and we will do everything according to halacha. I will sit with the heads of the batei din and formulate a detailed plan to implement the law.”

He ended with a brocha, expressing hope for a full return to Torah-based justice.

He said, “May it be fulfilled in us, ‘Restore our judges as at first.’ A dayan who judges a true and just ruling becomes a partner with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the act of creation. In the name of Hashem, we will act and succeed.”