Chabad Yeshiva in Tzfat to be forcibly evacuated after court rules against the institution in custody battle.

The world's largest Chabad study center in Tzfat will likely be forcibly evacuated by court order next week, the Behadrei Haredim website reported.

Over 500 people study at the Chabad Yeshiva in Tzfat. The yeshiva is located in an old hotel in Tzfat's Old City and was the subject of a long court battle after the campus was sold to a foreign buyer. A judge recently ruled against the yeshiva and ordered that the building be emptied by next Thursday. Should students not respect the ultimatum, they will likely be forcibly evicted by police.

"Since you have not listened to the court order to remove yourselves from the premises, I hereby inform you that the evacuation is scheduled for December 21, 2017 from 8:00 onward." wrote the judge in a missive the yeshiva received last week.

Students at the yeshiva vowed to resist the order if it meant clashing with police. "We won't evacuate the building. They will have to come and drag us out - this is the Rebbe's yeshiva and it will never close," said one student.

"This is a building that houses hundreds of yeshiva students. Where do they want us to go?" asked another.

"The sale of the building is a real injustice. The yeshiva was given to us legally by way of donation almost 20 years ago," a Tzfat resident told Behadrei Haredim.