Cabinet, Knesset to vote on Hametz Law

Ravitz says "public" should be removed from law, leading to total prohibition against selling hametz.

bread 88 (photo credit: )
bread 88
(photo credit: )
The cabinet and the Knesset will vote next week on Shas chairman Eli Yishai's legislation that would overturn a court decision last Thursday to allow stores and restaurants to sell hametz (leavened products) on Pessah. On Monday, United Torah Judaism MK Shmuel Halpert submitted the 40 signatures of MKs necessary for a special session of the Knesset during its spring recess. MKs from Shas, UTJ, Likud and the National Union-National Religious Party signed the petition. Yishai said he could easily pass the legislation in the cabinet. Shas faction chairman Ya'acov Margi expressed confidence that the bill could be passed in the Knesset House Committee and three readings in the plenum in one day. Earlier Monday, MK Avraham Ravitz (UTJ) had submitted an appeal to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik to amend Hametz Law. The largely unenforced 1986 law bans the "public display" of leavened products for sale or consumption during the weeklong holiday. According to the proposal, the word "public" would be removed from the law, leading to a comprehensive prohibition against selling hametz on Passover.