Tel Aviv restaurant removes kosher certificate in protest against new gov't

"I fund the ultra-Orthodox indirectly through the taxes I pay and I don't want to fund them directly as well," said the Tel Aviv restaurant owner.

KASHRUT CERTIFICATION at a Jerusalem eatery – will the rabbinate’s monopoly be broken? (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
KASHRUT CERTIFICATION at a Jerusalem eatery – will the rabbinate’s monopoly be broken?
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Anat Shabi, owner of a restaurant in Tel Aviv, was asked by Yair Eisenberg, a journalist who came to the place and recognized it as kosher, why the restaurant no longer has a kosher certificate.

In response, she claimed that because of the new Israeli government, she decided to stop selling kosher food.

Eisenberg later tweeted: "I'm a bit shocked, I just went to a restaurant in the Carmel Market area that is supposed to be kosher, when I entered I saw that there was no longer a kosher certificate there and I asked why. In response, the owner of the place got angry at me and said that because of the new government she decided to stop selling kosher. What the hell?!?!?!"

Why did the restaurant remove its kosher certificate to protest Israel's government?

Israelis wear protective face masks as they shop for food at the Carmel market in Tel Aviv on August 12, 2020 (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
Israelis wear protective face masks as they shop for food at the Carmel market in Tel Aviv on August 12, 2020 (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)

"I'm sorry you felt reprimanded. As a lesbian, Yemenite, single parent and a proud leftist, I have every right to make my place non-kosher. I fund the ultra-Orthodox indirectly through the taxes I pay and I don't want to fund them directly as well. Enjoy."

Anat Shabi

In response, the restaurant owner tweeted her own explanation: "I'm sorry you felt reprimanded. As a lesbian, Yemenite, single parent and a proud leftist, I have every right to make my place non-kosher. I fund the ultra-Orthodox indirectly through the taxes I pay and I don't want to fund them directly as well. Enjoy."