High Court suspends bans on pork sales

The High Court of Justice ruled yesterday that, at least for the present, pork may be sold in Tiberias, Karmiel and Beit Shemesh. This contravened existing municipal prohibitions in those cities. The court suspended the cities' current restrictions and told the local governments that should they enact new codes forbidding pork sale, they must conform to guidelines set down by the court.

One of the guidelines was the principle of taking the character of individual neighborhoods into account when laying down restrictions on sales of non-kosher meat. The guidelines suggest that pork may be sold in neighborhoods where a negligible proportion of the population is seen as sensitive to such sales.

The struggle over the sale of non-kosher meat in municipal areas has become one of the most important legal battles touching on religious-secular relations in Israel.

The unanimous High Court decision was made by an extended panel of nine justices.

Friction over the pork bans has been keenly felt in communities such as Beit Shemesh, which have substantial populations of Orthodox Jews, who tend to oppose pork sales, as well as numerous immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who often buy pork. In reaction to the ruling, Shas chairman MK Eli Yishai submitted a bill that would prohibit selling pig products anywhere in the country.

"The High Court has driven a central nail in the coffin of Jewish identity in the state," Israel Radio quoted Yishai as saying.

The court also ruled that one month before the amended regulations take effect, they must be submitted to the petitioners in the current appeals - Likud and Shinui legislators, Beit Shemesh residents and others - to allow them the opportunity to submit new appeals if they so choose.

The legal challenges centered on the authority of municipal governments to curb pork sales. The regulations are based on the 1956 Law of Authority, which grants city governments special authority to enact pork bans.

The petitioners had asked the court to quash the bans, or to limit them to "clearly religious areas."

In January, the court issued a temporary order barring the Tiberias municipality from enforcing its sweeping ban on pork sales. While in Beit Shemesh a municipal ban was limited to certain areas of the city, the Tiberias stature applied to all areas within the city limits.