Israeli Coalition Govt Faces Collapse Over Italian Restaurant

UTJ Blasts Netanyahu, Threatens to Depart Coalition

With a narrow 61-seat majority in the 120 seat Israeli Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition is pretty much constantly on the brink of collapse, and every perceived slight to any party, or even to a couple of MPs, could quickly escalate into a vote of no confidence and a push for fresh elections.

The latest possible reason, however, comes as a surprise, as Netanyahu’s dinner at an Italian restaurant during his state visit to Italy, where he dined with Italian PM Matteo Renzi, has fueled a serious divide between the PM and ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.

The Florentine restaurant, Enoteca Pinchiorri, serves some non-kosher entrees, and that’s not sitting well with United Torah Judaism (UTJ), which accused Netanyahu of “openly mocking” the religious parties in Israel by eating at such a restaurant, though Netanyahu maintains he didn’t eat anything non-kosher while he was there.

Of course, most Italian restaurants would, by the nature of Italian cuisine, have some non-kosher entrees available, but the UTJ maintains that it is inappropriate for a sitting Israeli PM to eat at such a restaurant in an official capacity.

This is the second time Netanyahu has faced such a restaurant-based controversy in less than a year, as during last year’s visit to New York to address the UN, he had lunch with pro-war billionaire Sheldon Adelson at Fresco by Scotto, a Manhattan restaurant which similarly wasn’t kosher. At the time, the ultra-Orthodox press condemned him for dining at “a pig restaurant.”

Roughly half of Israeli Jews don’t keep kosher, and normally it is not treated as a huge issue. Now, however, religious parties are getting quotes from a former Netanyahu housekeeper claiming the PM mixes meat and milk all the time. Odd as it may seem, this might be the straw that breaks the (non-kosher) camel’s back.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.