K A S H R U T . C O M_©

March 11, 2026 from Jerusalem Post:

"Tzohar petitioned the High Court of Justice earlier this week for the fourth time in its long-running fight with the Chief Rabbinate, asking the court to order that it be recognized without further delay as a licensed body authorized to issue official kashrut certification. The new petition argues that, even after a ruling in November ordering the Rabbinate to decide whether Tzohar qualifies and, if so, to issue a license, the state still has not acted.

"In the petition, Tzohar Food Supervision asks that the Rabbinate be directed to explain why it should not already be regarded as a licensed certifier, why enforcement should not be halted against restaurants and factories under its supervision, and why the Rabbinate should not be ordered to grant it a license immediately.

"The filing says Tzohar has now come to court “for the fourth time” in an effort to realize what it describes as its constitutional right to provide food supervision and kashrut services.

"The case sits at the intersection of a years-long religion-and-state struggle over a 2021 kashrut reform advanced by then religious services minister Matan Kahana. That reform was designed to move Israel away from the Rabbinate’s exclusive operational monopoly by allowing private bodies to issue kashrut certificates, while leaving the Chief Rabbinate in a supervisory and regulatory role.

"Government and Knesset materials from the time framed the move as one meant to create competition, widen choice, and separate regulation from service provision. This amendment took effect in January 2023. Since then, however, implementation has been bogged down in legal and political trench warfare. In March 2023, Tzohar applied for a license as a national certifying body; the application was ignored, prompting a second petition."