The Organization for Fairness in Government contacted the
Prime Minister and the Attorney General to demand new
appointments to the Jerusalem Religious Council Executive
Board, and the annulment of dozens of political appointments
of Likud Center members along with their friends and
relatives to that religious services body.
"It is unthinkable to appoint kashrus supervisors whose main
qualification for the job is their membership in the Likud
Center, for a kashrus supervisor must accept the authority of
the rabbonim who oversee his work and they are the only ones
who should approve the hiring of suitable mashgichim,"
reads a letter by R' Mordechai Eisenberg, chairman of the
Organization for Fairness in Government.
"For many years the public in Eretz Yisroel and abroad has
relied on the food kashrus in Jerusalem as one of the top
kashrus supervisions in the country and now, within a short
period of time, the takeover by Likud members and their
friends has led to a situation in which rabbonim were
dismissed or resigned and undesirable kashrus supervisors
have been appointed, leading to the loss of the public's
faith in the kashrus of the Jerusalem rabbinate."
In the letter, the Organization for Fairness in Government
mentions the names of dozens of Likud Center members and
relatives who recently received positions in kashrus
supervision or in the administration of the Religious
Council.
Eight months ago a request for the list of appointees and
positions at the Religious Council was submitted based on the
Freedom of Information Law, yet the Religious Council has
failed to provide the information. "Given no alternative we
had to cross check a partial list with a list of Likud Center
members in our possession," writes Eisenberg, "and to our
astonishment we discovered 20 political appointments
involving personal interests—based only on a partial
check. It is understandable why the current directors of the
Religious Council have been avoiding producing the full
list.
"This is without a doubt a corrupt process . . . resulting in
accruing political power to the Likud Center, which will
payback those handing out the jobs when the time comes. The
Attorney General is asked to halt this large-scale corruption
of appointments before the faith in religious services in
Jerusalem is totally destroyed and the faith in public
service in Israel irreparably harmed."
In the letter, the Organization for Fairness in Government
asks the Attorney General to order the Religious Council to
produce the requested list of employees and kashrus
supervisors for public review.
