Only about half of the catering businesses in the Tel Aviv district are kosher, compared to 66 percent of all catering businesses in Israel, and 79 percent of kosher certificates are strictly kosher, according to a new study by the Israel Democracy Institute, conducted by researchers Ariel Finkelstein and Gabriel Even-Tzur.
Against the background of the discussions regarding the kosher reform in the Knesset's Religious Services Committee, which arouse many emotions, the two researchers reveal how many of the restaurateurs hold a kosher certificate in Israel.
In 2019, the researchers note, there were about 14,700 kosher businesses in Israel from the rabbinate.
The study shows that the highest rate of kosher catering business is in the Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria districts, where about 90 percent of the businesses are kosher. The central district also has a high rate of kosher businesses, with 81 of the businesses carrying a kosher certificate.
Surprisingly and contrary to the prevailing stigma, in the Tel Aviv district, 49 percent of the catering businesses hold a kosher certificate.
However, it should be noted that this is the entire Tel Aviv district, and not just the city of Tel Aviv itself.
In the northern district, 81% of businesses with a kosher certificate were registered, while in the south, 72 percent of businesses held a kosher certificate.
81 percent of the supervisors, it should be noted, are employed by the business owners - as of 2019.
The researchers note that "these data correspond to the more religious-traditional profile of the Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria districts, compared to the more secular profile of the Tel Aviv district.
"Even in the northern and southern districts, where the traditional-religious population lives at a relatively high rate, a relatively high rate of kosher catering business can be seen."
The majority of business owners, 79 percent of them, held the standard and regular kosher certificate of the rabbinate in 2019, compared with 21 percent of the businesses who held the mehadrin kosher certificate of the chief rabbinate.
Only nine percent of the meat restaurants carried a strictly kosher certificate, but it is possible that many business owners hold a double kosher certificate - both from the Chief Rabbinate and the Badatz, which is the reason for the minority of holders of mehadrin certificates on behalf of the rabbinate.
"High demand for a certificate"
Ariel Finkelstein, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, noted that his research clearly shows that there is a great demand for a kosher certificate, and hence a change in the way business is supervised today.
"The number of kosher businesses indicates the great potential of the reform required in the field, which the State Comptroller has failed to address, and how significant it can be for consumers and business owners in the food sector."
Although this is a study based on data that is several years old, there is no doubt that it reflects a growing trend in recent years.
Their many restaurants and businesses have kosher certificates from the Chief Rabbinate, and in recent years businesses that have been equipped with kosher lunches have also joined.
Thus, this week, the kitchens of the two branches of the "The Magician" chain on King Solomon Street and Sharona Market were trained by Tzohar people.
"There is great satisfaction that this is another business that operated without formal kosher, and chose to become kosher under the supervision of Tzohar, thus helping us to increase kosher in Israel," said Tzohar kosher CEO Yehuda Zeiderman.
