Background
Lior Yaakov Eliyahu, Avraham Eliyahu, and Yitzhak Eliyahu sought leave to appeal a February 25, 2026 ruling of the Tel Aviv–Jaffa District Court in an underlying civil action brought by Nira Eliyahu. Their application was one of several related appellate proceedings considered together by Supreme Court Justice Ofer Grosskopf.
The applicants had raised a statute-of-limitations defense in their statement of defense. Following a hearing on August 13, 2026, the parties reached an understanding about how that defense would be handled in the underlying litigation.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court granted the application for leave to appeal to the extent that the applicants may argue the statute-of-limitations defense pleaded in their statement of defense. The District Court must examine that defense as part of the ongoing proceeding.
The Supreme Court did not decide whether the limitations defense succeeds and expressly preserved all parties’ arguments on its merits. Although the applicants requested costs, the Court made no costs order because the disposition reflected the parties’ agreement.
Key Takeaways
- The applicants may litigate their pleaded statute-of-limitations defense in the District Court.
- The Supreme Court did not resolve the merits of that defense; all substantive arguments remain open.
- No costs were awarded in the leave-to-appeal proceeding.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that the limitations issue remains a live defense in the underlying case rather than being excluded at the preliminary stage. Its practical significance is procedural: it restores the applicants’ ability to obtain a merits determination of that defense without expressing any view on whether the claim is actually time-barred.