Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba (archives)
Photo: Amit Sha'al
Bill: If most hospital patients Jewish, food must be kosher
Knesset passes in preliminary reading bill stating all hospitals with mostly Jewish patients must serve kosher food. MK Orlev: Initiative aimed at preserving State's Jewish character
A bill stating that any licensed hospital with a majority of Jewish patients must serve kosher food passed its preliminary reading on Wednesday.
Twenty-four Knesset members voted in favor of the bill, with only one – Labor's Ophir Pines-Paz –opposing.
Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi), who initiated the bill, said it was "an inseparable part of the State of Israel's identification card as a Jewish state.
"Anyone who is admitted to a hospital in the State of Israel must be assured that he is eating kosher food, just as every soldier is served kosher food," he said.
The explanation to the bill notes that similar regulations have already been instated in drug treatment centers and the army.
