An Israeli distributor of solar panels of a Chinese manufacturer had a dispute with the manufacturer and initiated arbitration proceedings at the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC") in accordance with the arbitration clause in the distribution agreement and even requested temporary relief within the arbitration. At the same time, it moved to receive in Israel an interim relief to prevent the continuation of the contractual breach until an arbitrator is appointed by the ICC.
The Court gave a relief limited to 30 days only. A foreign arbitration clause in an agreement entered into between parties does not limit the authority of an Israeli Court to grant an interim relief. However, before any decision is made by the Court, the strength of the claims and the damage that may be caused to the parties are to be reviewed. Here, because one of the parties has already started a procedure before the ICC, including a motion for a temporary relief, the procedure in Israel is only a temporary one until the ICC responds to the motion and no damage may be caused but may not be cured by a financial compensation. Thus , there is no place for a long term relief and the temporary relief will be limited to 30 days to enable the filing of an urgent motion to the ICC.