Polish PM won't lift kosher slaughter ban
Despite mounting criticism from Israel and Jewish groups, Donald Tusk says he has no plans to reintroduce legislation against ban on production of kosher meat
Polish lawmakers last week rejected a government-backed draft law that would have allowed slaughterhouses to produce meat in accordance with Jewish ritual law.
The law's opponents said the practice, which has been halted since a constitutional court ruling last year, is cruel to livestock.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said on Monday the ban on kosher slaughter methods damaged efforts to rehabilitate Jewish life in a country whose large Jewish community was nearly wiped out under German occupation during World War II.
"Right now we are not planning any legislative action in this matter," Tusk told a news conference.
He added the government would await a decision by a constitutional court on whether the ban on kosher slaughter was harming the rights of religious minorities.
