Israeli Supreme Court Dismisses Tzohar's Kashrut Petition After License Issued by Chief Rabbinate

The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice has dismissed the petition filed by Tzohar Food Supervision Ltd against the Chief Rabbinate and its council. The petition challenged the Rabbinate's refusal to grant Tzohar a kosher certification license under the Kahana Reform. This legal and political dispute over kosher supervision in Israel was resolved practically after Tzohar received an official license signed by the Chief Rabbinate's CEO in early July 2026.

The petition was initially filed after the Rabbinate declined to issue the license despite a November 2025 court ruling ordering the Rabbinate to make a substantive decision on Tzohar's eligibility. However, the Rabbinate's legal advisor later informed the CEO that the license was granted unlawfully, citing significant procedural flaws and recommending steps to suspend or revoke it. Additionally, the regulatory framework for kosher supervision bodies remains incomplete, and recent legal amendments do not permit licensing private entities.

The judicial panel, including Justices Ofer Groskopf, Alex Stein, and Gila Kanfi-Shtainitz, ruled that since the license was granted, the petition no longer presented a current legal issue and thus was moot. Justice Kanfi-Shtainitz emphasized that any internal disputes within the Rabbinate regarding the CEO's actions or the license's validity should be addressed through appropriate internal procedures, not through this court petition. Consequently, the scheduled November hearing was canceled, the petition was struck from the docket, and the court ordered the Chief Rabbinate to pay Tzohar 10,000 shekels in legal costs.