Chief Rabbi's CEO Insists Kashrut License for Tzohar Remains Valid Amid Controversy

About a week after the Chief Rabbinate's CEO, Yehuda Cohen, signed a license granting the Tzohar organization official authority to provide kosher certification in Israel, a dispute erupted over the document's validity. Cohen, who is expected to soon leave his position, maintains that the license he signed is still valid despite public and institutional challenges. Following the license's announcement, Yehuda Avidan, CEO of the Ministry of Religious Services, declared the license legally invalid, and members of the Chief Rabbinate Council stated they did not approve it.

The Chief Rabbinate's legal advisor informed Tzohar on Tuesday that significant procedural flaws were found in the licensing process, making the license currently unreliable. The Rabbinate said Tzohar's application would be reexamined through a formal process. However, Cohen sent a sharp letter to the Rabbinate's legal advisor, Attorney Yaakov Ofer, rejecting these claims and affirming the license's full validity, emphasizing that all legal conditions were met.

Cohen criticized the legal opinion opposing the license, arguing it contradicts the law, a Supreme Court ruling, and proper administrative conduct. Central to his argument is the interpretation of the law prohibiting fraud in kosher certification. While the Rabbinate claimed the council must actively approve the license, Cohen explained that the law requires only that the council not oppose it on kosher grounds, which constitutes implicit approval.

He noted that the issue has been litigated for some time, with the council never opposing the license on kosher grounds. Cohen accused the council of exhausting its opportunities to object and thus legally consenting to the license. He also condemned internal Rabbinate and Ministry of Religious Services discussions held without his involvement, calling such exclusion improper. Cohen concluded that vague claims of procedural flaws must be supported by concrete evidence, likening general accusations to casting a fishing net to catch nonexistent faults.