JERUSALEM, June 4 -- A Jerusalem official has threatened to shut down the non-kosher McDonald's restaurant in the city because the restaurant serves cheeseburgers in violation of Jewish dietary law, which forbids mixing meat and dairy products. McDonald's was not concerned about Deputy Mayor Rabbi Haim Miller's threats to close the downtown franchise following the rise of the religious bloc in national elections last week, a company spokesman said Tuesday. 'We don't believe that the new government will close (the restaurant), especially after (Prime Minister-elect Binyamin) Netanyahu's talk about free economy,' said McDonald's general manager Omri Padan, referring to Netanyahu's victory speech that called for a reduced government role in business. The restaurant is open on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and also serves cheeseburgers, mixing meat and dairy products in violation of Jewish religious dietary law. Whether or not non-observant Jews can eat their Big Macs on the Sabbath may not seem a pressing national issue. But in light of the success of ultra-Orthodox and national religious parties who captured 23 of the 120 seats in the elections, the cheeseburger question whetted the appetites of religious and secular leaders fighting over the delicate balance in the city where Friday night movies were once banned for desecrating the Sabbath. Fears were fanned when Israel Radio reported Netanyahu said he would discuss closing non-vital businesses that operate on Saturdays. In addition, four large business organizations support the closing of firms on the Sabbath, the Ha'aretz newspaper reported Senior officials in the Jerusalem municipality reprimanded Miller, a member of the United Torah Judaism Party, for saying earlier the ultra- Orthodox will petition Netanyahu to close the restaurant as part of the price for their joining a coalition government.
However, UTJ leaders disassociated themselves from Miller's threat. '(Miller) didn't have the authority to say what he said about the coalition agreement,' said UTJ Knesset member Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, adding Miller 'is not a responsible member of the municipality.' 'This (the closing of McDonald's) is not on the agenda of our party, ' Ravitz asserted. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert told reporters 'the religious and ultra- Orthodox are playing a political game just like everyone else.' 'When so-and-so says that he wants to close McDonald's, he makes a statement because he knows he will catch a headline, but he doesn't really mean it,' Olmert said. Padan said the non-kosher branch opened last year under with the agreement of the mayor, who heads a municipal Likud-Orthodox coalition. 'Jerusalem's population is over 50 percent non-Orthodox, and these people deserve to get the full McDonald's menu,' Padan said. 'The test of the new government will be with the Golan Heights and Syria, not with the hamburger and the cheeseburger.'
