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Arbitration

What remedies can an Israeli arbitrator award — money, injunctions, or specific performance?

An Israeli arbitrator can award far more than money. Under the Arbitration Law 5728-1968 and its First Schedule, the arbitrator may grant the same range of substantive remedies a court could, including damages, a declaratory ruling, specific performance, and orders requiring a party to do or stop doing something, unless the arbitration agreement limits their powers. The award is not self-enforcing: to compel compliance it must be confirmed by the District Court and then enforced through the Execution Office. Parties can widen or narrow these powers in the arbitration clause.

The First Schedule to the Arbitration Law 5728-1968, which governs unless the parties agree otherwise, frees the arbitrator from the strict rules of procedure and evidence and lets them shape the remedy to the dispute. In practice this means an Israeli arbitrator can award monetary damages, make a binding declaration of rights, order specific performance of a contract, and direct a party to take or refrain from an action, similar to an injunction. The arbitrator can also award interest and allocate costs between the parties. The main boundaries are the arbitration agreement itself, which can expand or restrict the available remedies, and public policy, since a court can refuse to confirm an award that offends it.

For foreign parties, this flexibility is a real advantage: a supplier can be ordered to deliver, a departing partner can be told to stop using confidential information, and rights under a contract can be declared, all within one award. The limit is enforcement, because an arbitral order to act carries weight only once the award is confirmed by the court and enforced through the Execution Office, and urgent protection before the award usually still requires a court application. Drafting matters: if you want the tribunal to be able to order specific performance or injunctive relief, say so in the clause, and if you want to cap exposure, exclude certain remedies. Clear wording prevents a later fight over what the arbitrator was empowered to grant.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Arbitration Law 5728-1968, First Schedule (remedial powers apply unless the agreement provides otherwise)
  • Competent authority: the arbitrator; the District Court confirms the award and the Execution Office (Hotzaa LaPoal) enforces it
  • Available remedies: damages, declaratory rulings, specific performance, orders to do or refrain from an act, interest, and costs
  • Party control: the arbitration clause can expand or restrict the remedies the arbitrator may grant
  • Enforcement: a non-monetary order takes effect once the award is confirmed by the court, then enforced like a judgment
  • Limit: a court can refuse to confirm an award that conflicts with public policy

From the full guide: The Arbitration Process in Israel — Step by Step

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