| The dispute between Alon Israel Oil Company Ltd. and the haredi
(ultra-orthodox) community is intensifying. Sources inform ''Globes''
that the Edah Haredit communal organization is joining the official ban
against the company being organized by rabbinical leaders, and that
official contacts between the company and the haredi community have been suspended altogether.
The Edah Haredit has decided that if an official ban is announced, it
will remove its Badatz kosher certifications for the fruits and
vegetables at Alon Group's supermarket chain Shefa Shuk. The manager of
the kosher certification committee of the Edah Haredit, Rabbi Gavriel
Poppenheim, told "Globes" today, "The moment that the rabbis will go
against something, Edah Haredit will join them. We won't be able to
give kosher certification to Shefa Shuk." The company that
supplies fruits and vegetable to Shefa Shuk, said in response, that it
will prepare to absorb heavy losses and to supply produce to Shefa Shuk
on the basis of a different kosher certification. The rabbinical committee of the haredi
community continued today to collect signatures of rabbinal leaders for
a boycott of purchases from Alon Group, including its retail
subsidiaries, Blue Square Israel Ltd. (NYSE: BSI; TASE: BSI) and Shefa Shuk. Edah
Haredit rabbinical committee secretary Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf said
today, "The signature campaign is gaining strength. When we finish
collecting the signatures, they'll be kept in a safe, and we'll set a
deadline for [Alon Group chairman] David Weissman, and he will either
announce the closing of stores on Shabbat or we'll separate." The dispute between Weissman and the rabbis erupted three weeks ago. The rabbinical committee published announcements in haredi newspapers calling on readers "not to maintain business contacts with" Dor Alon Energy in Israel (1988) Ltd. (TASE:DRAL), Blue Square, and Shefa Shuk because another retail chain owned by Alon Group, AM:PM, is open on Saturdays. The parties have been in talks since the announcement. The haredim
rejected a compromise offered by Alon Group, and after the last meeting
on Friday, the rabbis decided to step up their measures. No response from Alon Group was available by web-posting. | 
