Israeli Knesset Passes Law Canceling Kashrut Reform to Preserve Rabbinate Monopoly

The Israeli Knesset approved a law late Monday night in its second and third readings to cancel the Kashrut reform. The bill passed with 46 votes in favor and 41 against. The legislation aims to maintain the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly over kosher certification, block market competition, and transfer 5,000 kosher supervisor jobs to the Ministry of Religious Services and the Shas party. This move prevents the religious Zionist rabbinical organization Tzohar from operating a kosher certification system.

The reform, originally initiated by the Yamina faction with Israel Beiteinu, sought to open the kosher certification market to private corporations, allowing them to issue kosher certificates and operate under standards set either by the Chief Rabbinate or a panel of three rabbis. The reform also permitted certification of imported products, expected to reduce kosher certification costs. However, Shas consistently blocked the reform's implementation throughout the Knesset term and has now nullified it.

The new law not only preserves the Rabbinate's monopoly but also subordinates local religious councils' kosher certifications to the Rabbinate. It mandates that all kosher supervisors be employed through corporations linked to these councils, granting Shas control over 5,000 kosher supervisor positions and potentially imposing a half-billion shekel employment cost on the state.

Last week, outgoing Chief Rabbinate CEO Yehuda Cohen approved Tzohar's kosher certification system to operate as a kosher corporation, but this law, if upheld by the Supreme Court, would revoke that license. Despite targeting the religious Zionist rabbinate, the Religious Zionist Party promoted the bill alongside Shas. The committee handling the bill rejected 1,000 opposition amendments before approval.

During the debate, MK Ohad Tal of the Religious Zionist Party defended the law, stating it ensures reliable kosher certification and builds a transparent, professional system. Conversely, MK Elazar Stern of Yesh Atid condemned it as fostering corruption, calling it a law from Aryeh Deri's "school" serving "the most corrupt thing in Israel." MK Moshe Kahlon of Yesh Atid criticized it as a "jobs law." The bill is part of several religious laws expedited during the Knesset's final legislative week, including a gender-segregation law in higher education expected to pass soon.