The Knesset Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the wave of European legislation seeking to ban Jewish ritual slaughter of animals (Shechita). Committee Chair, MK Danny Danon (Likud), stressed that Israel will not accept such restrictions on Jewish religious freedom. “We shall call on European parliaments and the European Union to put a stop to this. The pretext [for this legislation] is preventing cruelty to animals or animal rights – but there is sometimes an element of antisemitism and there is a hidden message that Jews are cruel to animals.” Danon requested the Knesset Research and Information Center to carry out a study on the issue and a further debate will be held in a month’s time.

Jacob Edery, MK (Kadima), who initiated the debate, spoke of his encounter with the issue during a recent visit in Holland, noting that it is totally unacceptable and that the Knesset must do the maximum to stop it. Moshe Friedman, Spokesman of the Conference of European Rabbis, reported that in May 2009 the European Parliament voted with a large majority against the proposal to ban Shechita, and this vote was approved by the Council of the European Union in December 2010. The European Union also rejected a proposal to label kosher meat as “meat from slaughter without stunning.” Friedman warned however that similar legislative proposals are likely to be repeated in the institutions of the European Union. He also noted that Shechita and trade in kosher meat were banned in Switzerland around a century ago and that Norway passed a similar law 4 years ago. Friedman reported that the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament has passed a law requiring animals to be stunned before slaughter. However, this was rejected by the Upper House following intervention by 12 Members of the US Congress who responded to action by Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis. Since then the Dutch Agriculture Minister has suggested formulating new regulations to tighten supervision over Shechita. Friedman expressed cautious optimism but warned against complacency, noting that the message received by citizens of Europe is that Judaism is cruel to animals, and opens the way to banning of Brit Mila (ritual circumcision).

Holland’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, reported that some 2,500 heads of beef are slaughtered annually in Holland for Jewish consumption, and that the price of kosher meat is 200% more that non-kosher meat. Non-kosher meat costs about 9 Euro a kilo in European Union countries, while the price of kosher meat can reach 30 Euro a kilo.

Italy’s Chief Rabbi, Prof. Riccardo Di Segni, added that the principle opponents of Shechita in Europe are the Green parties and those that are anti-immigration, particularly of Moslems. Rabbi Di Segni stressed that the requirement is to stun the animals prior to slaughtering, and while most Moslems are actually prepared to do this, Jewish religious law forbids this, so that the new laws specifically target Jews. The Director of the office of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yaakov Elharar, noted that on the eve of the Second World War, there was a demand to stun animals before slaughtering them on the grounds of cruelty to animals. He also claimed that the current wave of legislation is due to the increasing numbers of Moslems in Europe some of whom carry out mass, public slaughter of animals in public parks, private gardens, and even inside apartments, where the blood may flow into neighbouring apartments. MK Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), referred to the importance of the participation in the meeting by MK Daniel Ben-Simon (Labour) with MKs from Likud, Shas and United Torah Judaism, as this unity shows the Europeans how important the issue is for us. “We cannot live without kosher meat, just as we cannot live without water”, he said. Shmuel ben Shmuel, head of the Diaspora and Religions Department in the Foreign Ministry, told the meeting that the Ministry has been dealing with this issue for years, and that the Ambassador to Holland has been working with legislators, Jewish organizations and public figures. However, representatives of European Jewish organizations, as well as MKs Edery and Michaeli denied this, claiming that this activity is negligible. The Dutch Chief Rabbi even said that the Ambassador had never contacted him and they had never even met.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)