Supreme Court Delays Ponevezh Eviction to August 2027

Supreme Court Justice Ofer Grosskopf on Thursday evening, November 12, postponed the eviction of Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz's faction from the Ponevezh Yeshiva campus in Bnei Brak until the 10th of Av 5787, in August 2027. The ruling gives the faction roughly nine more months on the premises but attaches a series of strict financial and legal conditions.

Grosskopf was ruling on a request for a stay of execution filed by Rabbi Markovitz and the "Masoret HaTorah" association. Under the decision, the stay depends on several conditions. The faction must vacate the yeshiva compound completely, in proper and usable condition, no later than the deadline. Rabbi Markovitz and the members of his committee must sign a written undertaking by the end of November. They are also completely barred from using the name "Ponevezh Yeshiva," its logo or any trademark associated with the institution.

The court also ordered a complete ban on violence or provocation between the factions. The Markovitz side must pay 25 percent of the monetary award set in arbitration, about NIS 2.5 million plus VAT and index linkage, by December 13, 2026. It must also make ongoing monthly payments of about NIS 270,000 for the use of the buildings until it leaves.

The decision addresses only the request for a stay. It does not rule on the merits of the appeal itself, which is expected to be heard separately before Justice David Mintz. According to Kikar HaShabbat, the ruling takes a pragmatic line. It is designed to avoid a sudden upheaval in the middle of the academic year at an institution with more than 1,200 students and avreichim, the married men who study in kollel. At the same time, it ends the arrangement of a "yeshiva within a yeshiva" with no clear boundaries.

At a hearing in late October, Grosskopf pointed to the difficulty of evicting hundreds of students in the middle of the school year. Attorney Eyal Rozovsky, representing the applicants, told the court that 1,266 students study at the yeshiva, some of them minors living in dormitories. He said that finding and preparing an alternative campus would involve high costs and complex procedures.

Attorney Ehud Artzi, representing Ponevezh Yeshiva, presented his clients' arguments about the use of buildings they own and about friction between the factions. He argued that the continued shared presence in the yeshiva's main study hall creates tension and that the two sides need to be separated.

Ponevezh Yeshiva students (Photo: Arik Marmor/Flash90)

The bitter battle for control of the Lithuanian chareidi institution began after the death of the yeshiva's founder, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman. It has intensified in recent years between the faction of Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman, known as the "Sonim" ("haters"), and the faction of Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz, known as the "Mechablim" ("terrorists").

In November 2025, retired judge David Cheshin issued a sweeping arbitration ruling. He found that Rabbi Markovitz's rights as rosh yeshiva, or yeshiva head, had expired, ordered the areas vacated, banned use of the yeshiva's name and imposed heavy payments. The District Court upheld the ruling in August. The Supreme Court is now tasked with balancing the parties' property rights against the complex reality on the ground.

The yeshiva world is following the developments closely. The new deadline is already marked on every side's calendar, though all involved recognize that, despite the temporary postponement, the legal and public battle over Ponevezh is far from over.