The kashrut supervisor of Tiberias's religious council has been suspended over his demand Wednesday that scantilly-clad mannequins and immodest pictures be removed from clothing stores in the city.
Rabbi Rafael Cohen said the mannequins and photographs showing models in swimsuits or underwear "elicit sorrow among the passers-by on the road." He said the stores would face the wrath of the religious community and lose their kosher certification if they failed to comply, and threatened to publish a list of stores that continue such displays.
In demanding Rabbi Cohen's suspension, Mayor Zohar Oved said on Thursday that Tiberias was as an international tourist site, where tourism areas operate right next to areas of a more religious nature, and he was not going to let the rabbi disrupt the "unique balance between the different sectors in the city".