The Prohibition of Fraud in Kashrut Law (Amendment No. 5), 2026, enacted on July 15, 2026, repealed the principal elements of the kashrut reform adopted by the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021. The Knesset approved the legislation in its second and third readings by 46 votes to 41. The law restored a centralized system in which the Chief Rabbinate Council may issue official kosher certificates, authorized local rabbis, and, within the Israel Defense Forces, the Military Rabbinate. Private kashrut organizations may continue to provide additional supervision, but may not independently issue an official state-recognized kosher certificate under the licensing system created in 2021.
Israel’s official kashrut-certification system is governed by the Prohibition of Fraud in Kashrut Law of 1983. Under the traditional arrangement, a local rabbi generally held exclusive authority to certify businesses within his geographic jurisdiction. The Chief Rabbinate controlled certification of imported food. At the same time, private organizations such as Badatz agencies could provide an additional layer of supervision only after a business obtained an official Rabbinate certificate. Local rabbis also had considerable discretion to determine the kashrut requirements applied within their jurisdictions.
Then-Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana promoted the 2021 reform as a way to introduce competition, improve service and separate the regulation of kashrut from the provision of certification services. It permitted licensed private kashrut corporations to issue official certificates under government regulation, allowed local rabbis to certify businesses beyond their own jurisdictions and authorized committees of local rabbis to establish alternative kashrut standards. It also allowed recognized private bodies to certify imported products, ending the Chief Rabbinate’s exclusive legal authority in that area.
The competitive system was never fully implemented. Its principal provisions were scheduled to take effect in January 2023, but successive transitional orders maintained much of the previous arrangement. The Chief Rabbinate and Religious Services Ministry did not establish the complete regulatory and licensing framework required for private certification bodies to enter the market. Consequently, the 2026 law largely prevented the competitive system from becoming operational rather than closing an already established national market of private official certifiers.
The new law eliminates the category of licensed private bodies authorized to issue official kosher certificates and generally restores the geographic authority of local rabbis. For imported food and meat, an official certificate may be issued by the Chief Rabbinate Council or a rabbi it authorizes. For restaurants, slaughterhouses and food-production facilities, authority rests with the Chief Rabbinate or the rabbi serving the locality in which the business operates. The minister may authorize another religious council to provide supervision in exceptional circumstances, including where no local kashrut authority operates.
The legislation does not simply restore every feature of the pre-2021 system. It centralizes the determination of national kashrut standards under the Chief Rabbinate Council, which is to establish a regular standard and one or more stricter standards. Local rabbis may give businesses implementation instructions, but the certificates must be based on the standards established by the Chief Rabbinate. Committees of local rabbis may no longer create competing official standards. Critics argued that this restricts the halakhic autonomy of local rabbis and limits the choices available to businesses and consumers. Supporters said national standards would eliminate inconsistent local requirements and produce a more reliable and transparent system.
The law also addresses a long-standing conflict of interest involving kashrut supervisors who were paid directly by the businesses they inspected. It provides for supervisors to be employed through religious councils or local authorities rather than by supervised businesses. This portion of the law is to be implemented gradually and is dependent in part on regulations, a collective wage agreement, and a closed financial model funded through kashrut fees. The arrangement was intended to implement the principle established by the High Court of Justice in 2017 that the employment relationship between a supervisor and the supervised business should be severed.
Supporters presented the legislation as restoring kashrut to a unified public system and preventing commercial interests from determining religious standards. Shas chairman Aryeh Deri said that kashrut was a state responsibility rather than a business. Chief Rabbis David Yosef and Kalman Meir Ber said the law would reinforce the authority of the Chief Rabbinate and local rabbis, promote uniformity and regularize the status of supervisors. Public Projects Committee chairman Ohad Tal argued that the law was intended to protect consumers and establish transparent national standards.
Critics, including the Competition Authority, Finance Ministry officials, the Tzohar rabbinical organization and religion-and-state advocacy groups, argued that the law restored geographic monopolies, reduced incentives to improve service and could increase costs for businesses and consumers. A Finance Ministry analysis estimated that the lack of competition and continued need for many businesses to purchase both official and private supervision could have an economic effect of approximately NIS 600 million. Critics also objected to the Chief Rabbinate’s exclusive authority over imports and argued that centrally imposed standards would restrict religious choice and the independence of local rabbis. The Israel Democracy Institute similarly concluded that the law would reduce competition and religious diversity, while acknowledging that uniform standards could resolve inconsistencies between different localities. The attached analysis provides a detailed discussion of those competition, cost and religious-autonomy concerns.
The legislation was enacted during continuing High Court proceedings concerning Tzohar’s attempt to obtain a license under the 2021 reform. In November 2025, the Court ordered the Chief Rabbinate to determine whether Tzohar met the statutory requirements and, if so, issue a license, rejecting the state’s position that implementation could be postponed because the government intended to repeal the reform. After further proceedings, the Chief Rabbinate’s director-general granted Tzohar a license on July 1, 2026. Still, other Rabbinate and Religious Services Ministry officials disputed its validity because the Chief Rabbinate Council allegedly had not been formally consulted. Tzohar asked the Court to uphold the license, and a hearing was scheduled for November 2. The 2026 amendment removed the licensing framework on which Tzohar’s claim was based, although questions concerning the validity of actions taken before the new law’s enactment remained before the Court. No separate High Court petition directly challenging Amendment No. 5 had been publicly reported as of July 20, 2026.
Sources: Ariel Finkelstein, Ayala Goldberg, “The Government’s Kashrut Law: What It Would Change and Why It Matters,” IDI, (July 13, 2026).
“Prohibition of Fraud in Kashrut Bill (Amendment No. 5), 2026,” Knesset, (June 1, 2026). [Hebrew]
“Approved in First Reading: Bill to Abolish Legislation Allowing Private Bodies to Issue Kashrut Certification,” Knesset, (June 3, 2026).
“Finance Ministry Response Concerning the Economic Effects of the Kashrut Law,” Knesset, (June 23, 2026). [Hebrew]
Sarah Ben-Nun, “Tzohar Asks High Court to Reject State’s Bid to Void Kashrut License,” Jerusalem Post, (July 12, 2026).
Zev Stub, “Knesset Passes Law Restoring Chief Rabbinate’s Monopoly over Kosher Certification,” Times of Israel, (July 15, 2026).
Sarah Ben-Nun, “Knesset Repeals 2021 Kashrut Reform, Restores Rabbinate Control over Certification,” Jerusalem Post, (July 15, 2026).
“Knesset Approves Prohibition of Fraud in Kashrut Law in Second and Third Readings,” Knesset, (July 15, 2026).