Israel’s Finance Ministry is warning that a coalition-backed bill to cancel the kosher certification reform could cost the public about 750 million shekels a year. The legislation passed its first reading in the Knesset on Monday, as the government tries to placate ultra-Orthodox factions amid tension inside the coalition.
According to Treasury calculations reported by N12, about 600 million shekels of that sum would come from higher certification costs for restaurants and hotels, which would likely be passed on to consumers. Another 150 million shekels would go to employing roughly 3,500 kosher supervisors, who would become state workers.
The bill, pushed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin in his role as minister for religious services, would reverse the reform advanced during the Bennett-Lapid government by former Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana and then-Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman. That earlier reform aimed to weaken the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly, allow private kosher agencies to compete, and reduce certification costs. Under the new bill, kosher certification would return to exclusive Chief Rabbinate control, city rabbis would be subordinate to it, and alternative certification would be eliminated.
Tani Frank of the Hartman Institute said the government was not merely restoring the old system, but also shifting the employment of thousands of inspectors to religious councils, adding pressure on the state budget during war and economic crisis. The Israel Restaurants and Bars Association sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Economy Minister Nir Barkat, calling the move “a step backward in the fight against the cost of living.”
Shas disputed the Treasury’s warning, saying the bill has “no budgetary cost” and arguing that the finance ministry had already reviewed and incorporated its remarks before concluding the law had no fiscal impact.
