The Chief Rabbinate of Israel Council announced Thursday that it does not currently approve the license issued to Tzohar authorizing the organization to function as a kosher certification agency under the Chief Rabbinate’s standards.

In a formal resolution signed by council members, the rabbis said they had learned that the Chief Rabbinate’s director-general informed Tzohar that it had been granted permission to issue kosher certificates in accordance with the kashrus standards established by the Chief Rabbinate Council.

The council pointed to Section 2(17)(a)(6) of Israel’s Kashrut Fraud Prevention Law, explaining that one of the legal prerequisites for licensing an outside organization to certify kashrus under the Chief Rabbinate’s standards is that the Chief Rabbinate Council itself must not object to the license.

According to the council, the director-general never notified its members that he intended to approve Tzohar’s application. Furthermore, the matter was never presented to either the full council or its kashrus committee for discussion before the license was issued. The council said this procedure violated both the requirements of the law and accepted standards of administrative governance.

As a result, the council issued a clear ruling stating that it “does not, at this stage, approve the granting of a license to the Tzohar organization.”

The announcement follows weeks of growing criticism surrounding decisions made by the outgoing director-general of the Chief Rabbinate. Critics within the rabbinate contend that he moved ahead with the licensing process on his own initiative, without the legal authority to do so and without obtaining the required approval of the Chief Rabbinate Council. Some officials have characterized the move as an attempt to create a “fait accompli” by bypassing the council’s oversight.

{Matzav.com}