Israel condemns Polish ban on kosher slaughter
The rejection by the Polish Sejm (lower house) of a bill allowing ritual slaughter, or shechitah, is “totally unacceptable” and a “brazen blow”, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Monday and appealed to the Polish authorities to review the decision.
“Israel is disappointed by the Polish parliament vote to forbid an important religious ritual which has been common practice among millions of Jews since ancient times,” the ministry said in a press release.
The ministry added that the decision seriously harmed the process of restoring Jewish life in Poland after World War 2, when most Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
“We call on the parliament to reassess its decision and expect the relevant authorities to find the way to prevent a crude blow to the religious tradition of the Jewish people,” the ministry said in a statement.
