Courts are authorized to issue immediate protection orders to ensure the safety and well-being of any family member who is threatened or views himself or herself as threatened by the person named in the order. Protection orders provide for a relatively fast remedy and do not require a prior complaint to be filed with the police. A protection order can be effectuated by the threatened person and by another person, it is temporary and for a limited time. The court may grant a protection order ex parte; where an ex parte order has been granted, a hearing in the presence of both parties will be conducted as soon as possible and no later than seven days from the order being granted.
The remedies most commonly petitioned for by battered women are: 1) restraining order; 2) temporary custody of minor children; and 3) court-mandated treatment against domestic violence for the violent man. The two most common remedies, which the courts grant in almost all cases of ex parte petitions, are: 1) restraining orders; and 2) prohibition against carrying firearms.
Under the Prevention of Family Violence Law, 5751-1991, a court may issue an order prohibiting a person from doing all or some of the following acts:
- enter the dwelling where the family member resides or be found within a certain distance of such dwelling, notwithstanding that he has any right therein
- harass a family member in any manner and at any place
- act in any way which prevents or hinders the use of an asset lawfully in use by a family member, notwithstanding that he has any right to the asset
- carry or possess a weapon, including a weapon given to him by the Israel Defense Forces or by any other State agency
A protection order can also include a requirement to post bail in compliance with good behavior (or any other directive the court wishes to impose) to guarantee the well-being and safety of the family member.
Treatment
Where a protection order has been granted, the court can (upon issuing the order or at a later date) order the person to whom the order applies to obtain treatment from a person determined by the court.
Protection order timeline
The court may remove the violent family member from the home for a period of up to three months and may extend this period, if the total period does not exceed six months. However, in special circumstances, the court may extend the validity of the order for a total period not exceeding one year.
Breach of the protection order
Where a complaint has been filed with the police regarding the breach of a protection order that includes a prohibition, a police officer may arrest the offender.
Costs and damages
Where the court has dismissed a claim to grant a protection order as vexatious, it may impose on the person who sought the protection order all or part of the following:
- costs in favor of the state and the aggrieved party, at such rate as it sees fit
- adequate damages to the party aggrieved by the filing of the petition