High Court to Hear Tzohar Kashrut License Dispute on November 2

Tzohar asked the High Court of Justice on July 12 to reject the state's attempt to invalidate its kashrut license, arguing that the central claim is contradicted by the facts and the court's own previous rulings. The response was filed after the state argued earlier in the week that the license was issued through a flawed process because the Chief Rabbinate Council had not been consulted before the authorization was granted.

A hearing in the case has been scheduled for November 2.

The dispute centers on the license granted to Tzohar on July 1 by the official responsible for implementing Israel's kashrut reform. The Chief Rabbinate's legal adviser later claimed that the statutory consultation process with the Chief Rabbinate Council had not taken place.

In its response, Tzohar argued that the state was attempting to transform an earlier petition into a new challenge against the validity of an already-issued license.

“The petition cannot become a proceeding about the validity of a license that has already been lawfully granted,” the organization argued. Tzohar pointed to a July 7 letter from Chief Rabbinate director-general Yehuda Cohen stating that every submission by the Rabbinate's legal department during earlier proceedings was drafted in close cooperation with the president of the Chief Rabbinate Council.

According to the letter, the council was a respondent in previous petitions regarding Tzohar's licensing request and never objected on kashrut grounds.

Tzohar also argued that the High Court's November 2025 ruling explicitly instructed the Chief Rabbinate Council to decide whether Tzohar was entitled to a license under existing legal criteria. The organization noted that both of its earlier petitions named the council as a respondent and attached the licensing request.