JERUSALEM, Nov. 25 (JTA) – Israel’s High Court of Justice has upheld a law banning the importation of pork and other non-kosher foods. Monday’s ruling does not affect the production or consumption of non-kosher food products inside the Jewish state. The court rejected the petition of the Mitreal Meat company, which had asked the court to disqualify the 1994 law on the grounds that it violated legislation on human rights and freedom of enterprise. Chief Justice Aharon Barak noted that the ban affected the freedom of enterprise in only a limited way, because the company could still import kosher meat. Barak also said the ban did not limit Israelis’ ability to purchase and eat non-kosher food. One of the petitioners, Eyal Ehrlich, told Israel Radio, “The Supreme Court is supposed to be a dam that protects Israeli society from anti-democratic waves, waves that harm human rights.” “The dam is not doing its job,” he added. Dedi Zucker, a Knesset member from the left-wing Meretz Party, said the ruling was proof that attacks on the court’s liberalism by members of the fervently Orthodox community were unfounded.
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