YNET As the defense
establishment is busy making large cuts to the defense budget to comply
with the austerity measures imposed by Finance Minister Yair Lapid,
it is one rather small cut that may prove the most politically incendiary: the 25% cut to budget of the IDF
Rabbinate that may force the religious authority to withdraw many
non-commissioned officers from their posts as kashrut inspectors,
meaning it will no longer able to guarantee the provisions handed out to
the soldiers are kosher.
Sources at the Rabbinate told Yedioth Ahronoth this could mean
religious soldiers would refuse to enter the army canteens; some went as
far as suggesting hunger strikes are in the cards.[...]
That's great news, because the kashrut inspectors are for the most part useless. This is due to an army regulation that says that a kashrut inspector in regular army service or career army MUST also be a cook. This means that he has a built-in conflict of interest. As a cook he can be court martialled for not providing food. As a kashrut inspector he can be court martialled for allowing non-kosher food to be served.
ReplyDeleteWhich one do you think happens more often? When was the last time a kashrut inspector was court martialled for not adhering to the army standard of kashrut?
In addition, I served as a kashrut inspector for 3+ months in the army (reserve duty). IT was literally war with the cooks. Without exaggeration, I had cooks running after me with knives. I had the NCO complain about my behavior going about 6 or 7 levels up the chain of command, until I received a 'visit' from one of the 3rd tier of chaplains (2 levels below the chief chaplain of the army).
In addition, my superior officer was the career army kashrut inspector. He threw me out of the kitchen so many times to prevent me from ensuring that the army standard of kashrut was met, that the chaplain of the base put me under his direct command.
How many kashrut inspectors would be willing to deal with that on a regular basis?