Two Israeli companies generated public protest this week over the alleged violation of workers' and customers' rights under ultra-Orthodox pressure. In fact, it took just a day or two for each of these companies to backtrack in response to public outcry.
The first company is Tempo, the owner of Barkan wines. Its CEO, Jack Bar, renounced a previous decision to remove workers of Ethiopian descent from the vineyard's production line out of concern that they are not Jewish. The story was exposed in a June 25 report on the Kan public broadcasting corporation about a decision to transfer workers of Ethiopian background from the wine production line to other roles. The report revealed that the decision stemmed from a demand of kashrut inspectors from Eda Haredit, a private kashrut certification organization considered stringent. The inspectors cast doubt on the Jewishness of one of the Ethiopian workers, and management decided to transfer all workers of this background to other roles at the winery. (Wine that comes in contact with non-Jews is considered non-kosher.)