K A S H R U T . C O M_©

Israel: New law allows Israeli hospitals to ban chametz during Passover

March 28, 2023 - from VinNews:

" The Knesset plenum on Tuesday passed into law a bill to allow hospitals to ban chametz, or leavened foods, during the weeklong Passover holiday.

"Forty-eight Knesset members voted in favor and 43 voted against the proposal that is intended to reverse a Supreme Court ruling from April 2020 according to which hospitals could not enforce a similar law.

"The Charedi United Torah Judaism Party sponsored the bill that grants hospital administrators the flexibility to determine “the special arrangements” needed to ensure that patients can keep kosher for Passover.

"According to the law, chametz instructions as determined by hospital managers will be published on the hospital website and signs will be posted in the facility. Employees will also be informed of the religious instructions.

"A related law was in place for more than three decades until it was struck down by the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, in 2022 when it ruled on a petition by a secular group that hospitals could not require security guards to search visitor’s bags for chametz during the holiday.

Israel: Knesset To Pass Law Prohibiting Chametz In Hospitals

March 23, 2023 - from VinNews:

"The Knesset is due to pass at the second and third readings a law prohibiting bringing Chametz into hospitals.

"The law was presented by MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) and a number of other MKs after the High Court declared that hospital directors cannot prevent Chametz from being brought into hospitals without legal backing.

"The current law has been toned down from the original bill which would have allowed security guards to check the contents of people’s bags. The law now states that “Hospital directors can establish regulations regarding a prohibition or restriction on bringing Chametz into the hospitals, in order to facilitate maintenance of kashrus and Pesach for those who are hospitalized in their hospitals.

"Gafni originally described the law as a 'superfluous law, since for 70 years hospitals operated on Pesach calmly and serenely until the court jumped in. The court said that the hospital director has no authority on the matter. Why did the court get involved? Why did it require legislations? This kind of insolent interference only happens on religious issues.'

"The Bennett government fell last year after Idit Silman left the government in protest over the government’s demand from hospitals to allow Chametz into their environs."

Israel: UTJ Submits Bill To Prevent Chametz In Hospitals On Pesach, Opposition Slams 'Religious Coercion’'

January 24, 2023 - from VinNews:

"In another indication of the new government’s intent to roll back policies of its predecessor, the UTJ party submitted a bill to ban Chometz from hospitals during Pesach.

"In 2020 the High Court declared such bans in hospitals to be illegal, and last year the court issued a similar ruling regarding army bases. When Former health minister Nitzan Horowitz instructed hospitals to abide by the court’s ruling ahead of Pesach 2022, coalition whip Idit Silman described it as an attempt by the more liberal parties in the government to weaken the state’s “Jewish character” and used it as a pretext to leave the government, starting the process of the coalition’s downfall.

"The new bill submitted Monday would legalize and require Chometz bans in hospitals, as was customary before the 2020 court decision.

"In their explanatory notes to the bill, MKs Moshe Gafni, Yaakov Asher, and Yitzchak Pindrus explained that their bill would not be overly onerous for non-Jewish patients in hospitals as 'in light of developments in food technology there are kosher-for-Passover replacements for all sorts of foods — rolls, cakes, cookies and candy bars.'

"Opposition MK and former Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana blasted the bill, stating it would lead to intentional attempts to bring in Chametz.