Kashrus Loophole Raises Alarm Over Palestinian Authority Meat Imports

Knesset member Tzvi Succot of the Religious Zionism party sounded an urgent warning this week to the Chief Rabbis and the Chief Rabbinate Council about what he called a “serious loophole” undermining the integrity of Israel’s kashrus system.

Succot revealed that certain importers are exploiting the system by buying meat within Palestinian Authority areas, securing Chief Rabbinate kashrus certification for customs clearance, and then reselling portions of that meat to Jewish consumers in Israel.

The issue was discussed last Thursday at a special session of the Chief Rabbinate’s Kashrut Committee, which convened to address the growing problem of kosher meat imports linked to the Palestinian Authority.

Before the committee meeting took place, Succot sent a letter alerting the Chief Rabbis and Council members that his Knesset subcommittee would soon be tackling the issue as well. “I will soon hold a discussion in a Knesset committee and would be happy for Chief Rabbinate representatives to participate so we can find a solution to the problem of meat smuggling,” he wrote.

Succot pointed out that he has repeatedly encountered the problem of meat entering Israel under the misleading designation of “goods transferred to the Palestinian Authority.” According to him, the situation has reached alarming proportions, with a State Comptroller’s report indicating that 57% of meat imports supposedly bound for the PA never reached it at all but were instead sold inside Israel.

He further warned the Chief Rabbis that “according to the law, once a kosher certificate is issued for the imported meat, the importer can legally sell it as ‘kosher’ within the State of Israel’s borders without violating the ‘Kosher Fraud Prohibition Law.’”

Concluding his letter, Succot expressed deep concern that the Rabbinate’s practice of granting kashrus certification for meat claimed to be heading to the PA is inadvertently enabling widespread abuse. “Since the matter under discussion was brought to my attention, I felt it appropriate to share with the esteemed rabbis the serious concern that issuing kashrus certificates for meat supposedly intended for the Palestinian Authority could, God forbid, worsen the problem of meat being smuggled and marketed as kosher – thereby creating a de facto bypass of the Chief Rabbinate’s oversight of meat entering Israel,” he cautioned.

{Matzav.com}