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Kashrut Fraud Prohibition Law, 5743-1983

חוק איסור הונאה בכשרות, תשמ"ג-1983

Published: 1983-07-28Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-07-27 · Last amended 2026-07-19✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter I: Definitions and Purpose

Definitions§

1.

In this Law –

"food establishment" – a place in which persons engage in selling to the public, or serving, commodities for the purpose of eating or drinking on the premises, and also a butcher's shop, and in relation to a hotel – those parts of the hotel in which persons engage in the preparation or serving of commodities for the purpose of eating or drinking on the premises;

"kashrut supervision" – (Repealed)

"imported meat" – meat as defined in the Meat and Meat Products Law, 5754-1994, that has been imported into Israel;

"certifying body" – (Repealed)

"additional requirements" – (Repealed)

"Knesset committee" – (shall not be read);

"rabbinical committee" – (Repealed)

"Budget Foundations Law" – the Budget Foundations Law, 5745-1985;

"Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law" – the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law, 5740-1980;

"Jewish Religious Services Law" – the Jewish Religious Services Law [Consolidated Version], 5731-1971;

"religious council" – a religious council established by virtue of the Jewish Religious Services Law;

"product" – a product intended for use in contact with the human body or in contact with a commodity, and which is not a commodity;

"commodity" – foodstuffs and beverages, and in relation to a butcher's shop – meat and meat products;

"production of a commodity" – including the packaging thereof.

"halachic expert" – (Repealed)

"authorised religious council" – (Repealed)

"Chief Rabbinical Council" – the Chief Rabbinical Council of Israel, pursuant to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law, 5740-1980;

"the Commissioner" – (Repealed)

"supervisor" – a person who provides supervision services on behalf of a local kashrut authority pursuant to section 2j;

"the Ministry" – the Ministry for Religious Services;

"President of the Chief Rabbinical Council" – the Chief Rabbi of Israel serving as President of the Chief Rabbinical Council pursuant to section 17(a) of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law;

"corporation symbol" – (Repealed)

"standard symbol" – a symbol of a kashrut standard if established by the Chief Rabbinical Council pursuant to section 2a(f);

"public employee" – a State employee within the meaning of the State Service (Appointments) Law, 5719-1959, an employee of a religious council, or an employee of a local authority;

"kashrut symbols" – (Repealed)

"dealer" – a person who applies for, or who holds, a kashrut certificate for a food establishment, a commodity or a product, or for the production of a commodity or product;

"IDF" – the Israel Defence Forces, including all branches of the defence establishment, and also an owner of a food establishment or a producer engaged on their behalf in the supply or production of commodities;

"regional rabbi" – a person lawfully serving as rabbi of a regional council or of a cluster of settlements whose appointment has been approved by the Ministry;

"settlement rabbi" – a person lawfully serving as rabbi of a moshav, kibbutz or other settlement that is not a local council whose appointment has been approved by the Ministry;

"authorised rabbi" – a person who is entitled to issue a kashrut certificate pursuant to the provisions of section 2;

"local rabbi" – a person who holds a written approval from the Chief Rabbinical Council that he is qualified to serve as a rabbi in Israel, and who serves as a city rabbi, a regional rabbi or a settlement rabbi;

"city rabbi" – a person serving as rabbi of a settlement that is a municipality or a local council whose election has been published in Reshumot (Official Gazette) pursuant to section 15(a)(2) of the Jewish Religious Services Law;

"licence" – (Repealed)

"local kashrut authority" – a religious council, and also a municipality or local council in which there is no religious council;

"supervision services" – supervisory and control activities in respect of a dealer that are intended to verify that the dealer complies with the conditions of kashrut;

"kashrut services" – an activity of a local kashrut authority pursuant to section 2c;

"control" – as defined in the Securities Law, 5728-1968;

"conditions of kashrut" – all of the following:

(1)provisions established in a kashrut standard;
(2)provisions for the implementation of a kashrut standard given by an authorised rabbi to a dealer pursuant to section 2b(1);

"supervision plan" – (Repealed)

"kashrut certificate" – a certificate pursuant to this Law issued by an authorised rabbi to a dealer;

"kashrut standard" – a standard established by the Chief Rabbinical Council pursuant to section 2a(b);

"rabbinical committee kashrut standard" – (Repealed)

"council kashrut standard" – (Repealed)

"the Minister" – the Minister for Religious Services.

Purpose§

1a.

The purpose of this Law is to enable a consumer of commodities who wishes to observe kashrut laws and customs to rely on a kashrut certificate, and to prevent misrepresentation.

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Chapter II: Those Authorised to Issue a Kashrut Certificate

Those Authorised to Issue a Kashrut Certificate§

2.

The following are entitled to issue a kashrut certificate for the purposes of this Law:

(1)in relation to an imported commodity or an imported product – the Chief Rabbinical Council or a rabbi authorised by it for that purpose, provided that he is a member of the Chief Rabbinical Council or an employee of the Chief Rabbinate who holds a written approval from the Chief Rabbinate that he is a rabbi in Israel, and they may, in making their determination, seek the assistance of a rabbi outside Israel or of a corporation engaged in kashrut supervision; in this section, "rabbi in Israel" – a rabbi as defined in section 7(8) of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law;
(2)in relation to a food establishment, a slaughterhouse or a place of production of a commodity or of a product – the local rabbi serving in the place where they are located, or the Chief Rabbinical Council, and if no local rabbi is serving or is unable to perform that function – a rabbi authorised by the Chief Rabbinical Council for that purpose, provided that he is a member of the Chief Rabbinical Council or a public employee who is a rabbi in Israel;
(3)in relation to a kashrut certificate for the IDF – the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defence Forces or a military rabbi authorised by him for the purposes of this Law.

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Chapter III: Kashrut Standard and Activities of an Authorised Rabbi and a Local Kashrut Authority

Section A: Kashrut Standard

Kashrut Standard§
2a.
(a)Supervision services and a kashrut certificate shall be in accordance with a kashrut standard.
(b)
(1)The Chief Rabbinical Council shall establish kashrut standards based solely on kashrut law;
(2)A kashrut standard shall set out in detail, as the case may be, the matters listed below, all according to the types of dealers and additional relevant characteristics:
(a)the conditions for the intake of raw materials and for the grant of preliminary approval for a kashrut certificate where necessary, for the production, processing, transport and marketing of a commodity;
(b)the conditions for the operation of a food establishment;
(c)provisions regarding the extent of the presence of a supervisor at the place of activity of a dealer;
(d)the conditions regarding process control or spot-check inspection at a food establishment of a commodity or product, or of the production of a commodity or product, that hold a kashrut certificate;
(2a)Without derogating from the generality of the foregoing in paragraph (2), the determination of supervision hours in a kashrut standard shall be made in accordance with the scope of the dealer's activity and the actions required in relation to the handling of a commodity, according to the type of dealer, and a range of supervision hours or provisions regarding close supervision may be established in the kashrut standard;
(2b)A kashrut standard shall not include provisions regarding the use of products that have received a kashrut certificate;
(3)(Repealed)
(4)(Repealed)
(5)(Repealed)
(6)(Repealed)
(c)A kashrut standard shall be one of the following:
(1)an ordinary kashrut standard;
(2)one or more additional kashrut standards, each incorporating the provisions of the ordinary kashrut standard and provisions that are more stringent than that standard.
(d)(Repealed)
(e)(Repealed)
(f)The Chief Rabbinical Council may establish a standard symbol for each kashrut standard it has regulated, and if it has regulated such a symbol, it shall include a reference to whether the commodity is dairy, meat or pareve.
(g)The Chief Rabbinical Council shall examine from time to time the need to revoke, update or amend a kashrut standard.
(h)(Repealed)
(i)
(1)The President of the Chief Rabbinical Council shall publish in Reshumot (Official Gazette) a notice of a kashrut standard regulated pursuant to this section and of its standard symbol, if established, and also of the revocation, updating or amendment of a kashrut standard regulated as aforesaid;
(2)A notice referred to in paragraph (1) shall specify the date of entry into force of the kashrut standard or the standard symbol, as the case may be; such a date shall be set having regard to the nature of the standard, its update or amendment, the extent and type of adaptations required of a dealer in order to comply with the updated standard provisions and with the provisions of this Law in relation to section 9, and if it concerns an update or an amendment, also having regard to the degree of urgency of their implementation in order to prevent kashrut fraud; such a date shall not precede the date of publication of the notice;
(3)A dealer may, after having received the approval of the local kashrut authority, act in accordance with an updated kashrut standard pursuant to this section even before the date of its entry into force as referred to in paragraph (2).
(j)The Chief Rabbinical Council shall publish on the website of the Chief Rabbinate the kashrut standards that have been regulated and any revocation, update or amendment of a kashrut standard, in a manner that enables the tracking of their revocation, updating and amendment, as well as their documentation over time.

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Section B: Activities of an Authorised Rabbi and a Local Kashrut Authority

Activities of an Authorised Rabbi§
2b.

An authorised rabbi shall be entitled to perform the following actions:

(1)to give a dealer written provisions for the implementation of a kashrut standard; such provisions shall be given having regard to the type of dealer, the raw materials to be used, the manner of handling the commodity, the degree of its processing, the technologies used by the dealer, the structure of the premises in which the business operates, and additional characteristics of the dealer;
(2)to issue a kashrut certificate to a dealer in accordance with the provisions of section 2h;
(3)to revoke, suspend or refuse to renew a certificate issued to a dealer, or to set conditions for the rectification of deficiencies in order for the dealer to comply with the conditions of kashrut, in accordance with the provisions of section 2i.
Activities of a Local Kashrut Authority§
2c.

A local kashrut authority shall be entitled to perform the following actions:

(1)to provide supervision services to a dealer who has requested them pursuant to section 2j;
(2)to issue a kashrut certificate to a dealer pursuant to section 2g;
(3)to act in accordance with the directives of an authorised rabbi for the revocation or suspension of a kashrut certificate issued to a dealer, or to examine compliance with conditions set by an authorised rabbi for the rectification of deficiencies in order to comply with the conditions of kashrut pursuant to section 2i.
Conflict of Interests in the Activities of an Authorised Rabbi, an Employee of a Local Kashrut Authority or a Supervisor on its Behalf§
2d.
(a)An authorised rabbi, an employee of a local kashrut authority or a supervisor on its behalf shall not be in a situation of conflict of interests between their functions and a personal interest of theirs or another function of theirs or of their relatives; the Minister may publish conditions and provisions in this regard.
(b)In this Law –

"family member" – a spouse, parent, grandparent, son or daughter and their spouses, brother or sister and their children, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle or aunt and their children, father-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law (husband's father), mother-in-law (husband's mother), grandson or granddaughter, including a family member as aforesaid who is a step-relative;

"interested party" – as defined in the Securities Law, 5728-1968;

"affiliation" – (Repealed)

"dependency relationship" – (Repealed)

"office holder" – as defined in the Companies Law, 5759-1999;

"personal interest" – a personal interest of a person in an action or transaction of a corporation, including a personal interest of a relative of that person and of another corporation in which that person or a relative of that person is an interested party;

"relative" – any of the following:

(1)a family member of the office-holder;
(2)a person in whose financial situation the office-holder has an interest;
(3)a corporation in which the office-holder, a family member of the office-holder or a person referred to in paragraph (2) is an interested party;
(4)a body in which the office-holder, a family member of the office-holder or a person referred to in paragraph (2) is a manager or a responsible employee;
(5)a body that employs the office-holder, an individual who is an interested party in such a body where it is a corporation, or an office holder in such a body.
Duty to Report and Retention of Documents§
2e.
(a)A local kashrut authority shall report to the Minister and to the Chief Rabbinical Council, in the manner directed by the Minister, once a year on all of the following:
(1)the number of kashrut certificates it has issued to dealers;
(2)the number of kashrut certificates that were revoked or suspended pursuant to the provisions of section 2i and the circumstances of the revocation or suspension;
(3)exceptional occurrences, their details and the manner in which they were handled; the Minister may determine the types of occurrences that shall be considered exceptional for this purpose;
(4)additional matters determined by the Minister, if any.
(b)A local kashrut authority shall document its activities and retain documents relating to its activities, in digital form, in accordance with provisions set by the Minister.
2f.§

(Repealed — תשפ״ו)

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Section C (Repealed)

Conditions for the Issuance of a Kashrut Certificate§
2g.
(a)An authorised rabbi shall issue a kashrut certificate to a dealer after finding that the conditions of kashrut established in relation to the dealer in accordance with the kashrut standard requested by the dealer pursuant to section 2a(c) are met, and after an arrangement for the receipt of supervision services in accordance with the conditions of kashrut has been made.
(b)In relation to an imported commodity, an authorised rabbi shall issue a kashrut certificate to a dealer after finding that the conditions of kashrut established in relation to the commodity in accordance with the kashrut standard requested by the dealer pursuant to section 2a(c) are met.
(c)A kashrut certificate pursuant to this section shall be issued to a dealer by means of the local kashrut authority, or the religious council authorised pursuant to section 2j(b) to (d), as the case may be, or by means of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and a copy of the written provisions issued pursuant to section 2b(1) shall be attached thereto.
Kashrut Certificate§
2h.
(a)An authorised rabbi shall issue a kashrut certificate for a period not exceeding one year according to the Hebrew calendar, and it may be stipulated that it shall not be valid during the days of Passover.
(b)An authorised rabbi shall indicate the following particulars in a kashrut certificate:
(1)the kashrut standard pursuant to which the kashrut certificate was issued;
(2)(Repealed)
(3)the validity of the certificate;
(3a)the type of dealer;
(4)the particulars of the dealer – name, address and contact details;
(4a)the particulars of the local kashrut authority providing supervision services, unless the kashrut certificate was issued pursuant to section 2(1);
(5)the name and signature of the authorised rabbi;
(6)the particulars of the supervisor, including contact details, unless the kashrut certificate was issued pursuant to section 2(1).
(c)The standard symbol relating to the kashrut certificate shall appear on it, if such a symbol has been established.
(d)(Repealed)
(e)An authorised rabbi may, at the request of a dealer, also issue a kashrut certificate in respect of products for which a kashrut standard exists; the Minister may establish provisions for the issuance of such a certificate, including regarding the manner of submitting the application and the fee involved in receiving the certificate; the provisions of Chapters V and VI shall not apply to such a kashrut certificate.
Revocation or Suspension of a Kashrut Certificate or the Setting of Conditions Therein§
2i.
(a)An authorised rabbi may, by written notice, revoke, suspend or refuse to renew a kashrut certificate issued by him, or set conditions required for the rectification of deficiencies in order to comply with the conditions of kashrut, upon the occurrence of any of the following:
(1)the dealer has breached a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law, including failure to pay a fee for a kashrut certificate or for supervision services provided to the dealer, and has not rectified the breach after having been given a reasonable opportunity to do so;
(2)the kashrut certificate was issued on the basis of false, erroneous, misleading or partial information;
(3)the dealer has ceased to engage in the activity that is the subject of the kashrut certificate;
(4)a condition for the issuance of a kashrut certificate pursuant to this Law has ceased to be met.
(b)An authorised rabbi shall notify the dealer of the intention to revoke or suspend the kashrut certificate or to set conditions required for the rectification of deficiencies, and of the grounds therefor.
(c)A dealer who has been given a notice as referred to in subsection (b) may present arguments before the authorised rabbi regarding the intention to revoke, suspend or refuse to renew the kashrut certificate or to set conditions required for the rectification of deficiencies, within 14 working days from the date of delivery of the said notice.
(d)If the authorised rabbi has decided, after hearing the arguments of the dealer as referred to in subsection (c), to revoke, suspend or refuse to renew the dealer's kashrut certificate or to set conditions required for the rectification of deficiencies, he shall notify the dealer thereof in writing by means of the local kashrut authority immediately after the decision is made by him, and shall also notify the President of the Chief Rabbinical Council thereof within three working days.
(e)(Repealed)
(f)
(1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (d), if the authorised rabbi has found that a dealer has breached a substantive provision of the conditions of kashrut in a manner such that allowing the kashrut certificate to remain in force would with near certainty result in kashrut fraud, he may suspend the kashrut certificate issued to the dealer with immediate effect, for reasons he shall detail in the notice to be delivered as referred to in subsection (b), provided that he allows the dealer to present arguments as soon as possible after the date of the suspension, and no later than 24 hours from that date;
(2)the authorised rabbi shall render his decision as soon as possible and no later than three working days after hearing the arguments of the dealer;
(3)if an authorised rabbi has decided as referred to in paragraph (1), he shall notify the dealer thereof in writing by means of the local kashrut authority immediately after the decision is made by him, and shall also notify the President of the Chief Rabbinical Council thereof immediately and no later than one working day, and shall state in his notice the grounds for the suspension.
(g)If the authorised rabbi has made a decision pursuant to subsection (d) or (f) –
(1)the President of the Chief Rabbinical Council or a person on his behalf shall publish a notice thereof on the website of the Chief Rabbinate within three working days from the date on which he received the authorised rabbi's notice of his decision;
(2)the local kashrut authority shall publish a notice thereof on its website and by any additional means it sees fit within 24 hours from the date on which it received the authorised rabbi's notice of his decision.

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