The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday upheld in full an arbitration ruling issued last year by retired judge Dovid Cheshin in the years-long dispute over Ponevezh Yeshiva.

Judge Yehudit Shevach rejected a petition by the Masoret HaTorah association to overturn the arbitration ruling. According to the decision, Rav Markovitz’s talmidim and institutions must vacate the yeshiva property on Givat Ponevezh in Bnei Brak by September 30.

Judge Cheshin had originally set July 30 as the deadline for vacating the property. Since that date has already passed and the Yamim Noraim are approaching, Judge Shevach extended the deadline until September 30

The court also ordered the petitioners to pay NIS 75,000 in legal expenses and attorneys’ fees.

In her ruling, Shevach reviewed the lengthy history of the dispute, beginning with an arbitration decision issued by a panel of arbitrators in 2000 and continuing through years of subsequent developments that ultimately led to Cheshin’s appointment as sole arbitrator.

Shevach upheld Cheshin’s determination that the ongoing conflict had made separation between the two factions necessary, ruling that the removal of the faction that had acted contrary to the yeshiva’s hierarchy and organizational structure was warranted.

The arbitration ruling also prohibits Rav Markovitz’s faction and the Masoret HaTorah association from using the “Ponevezh Yeshiva” name, trademark or logo. Rav Markovitz is additionally barred from presenting himself under the title “Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)