In August, the Jerusalem Rabbinate introduced a new Kashrut certification which is now beginning to become popular among Jerusalem restaurants.

The certification, called “Mehuderet”, is designed for Jerusalem restaurants who are interested in providing Badatz and Mehadrin level certified foods and Kashrut to their clients, but aren’t interested in the politics and prices that the private Badatz certifications bring along with them.

Typically, the private certifications have high monthly fees and lock the restaurants into specific suppliers, especially in the case of meat, even if the other Badatz and Mehadrin products are considered just as kosher.

The “Mehuderet” certification requires that all the products used in the restaurant be at the Badatz and Mehadrin level, but don’t require an additional private Badatz certificate or purchase of products from only specific Badatz certifications.

In addition, unlike the standard Jerusalem Mehadrin certificate, meat that is certified as Mehadrin by the Rabbinate from other cities and not just Jerusalem may be used, which can sometimes result in major cost savings.

One Jerusalem restaurant who made the switch told JewishPress.com, “I pay for the Jerusalem ‘Mehuderet’ certification less per year than I was paying the Badatz each month, and that fee was above the cost of the Mashgiach! After I switched to the Jerusalem Rabbinate’s ‘Mehuderet’ certification I kept my same exact Mashgiach, but I now have flexibility in choosing my Mehadrin and Badatz suppliers and products. My clients care about Mehadrin and they are definitely OK with this new certification.”

In recent years, due to the high certification costs, some Jerusalem restaurants began to forgo the Badatz/Mehadrin certifications completely, trading them in for the minimal Jerusalem Kashrut, while still only using Mehadrin and Badatz products. But that cost saving measure also resulted in a loss of customers.

This new certificate may reverse that tide, by assuring customers that the food they’re eating is Mehadrin and prepared according to the Mehadrin levels they want, while significantly lowering prices.

If this new Jerusalem certificate continues to grow in popularity, we may see other other local Rabbinates in Israel begin to copy the model, creating a revolution in Israel’s tightly controlled Badatz/Mehadrin Kashrut certification industry.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the biggest points of dissension in  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s “framework” that he failed to publicize before returning to Washington on Monday, according to an official in the Palestinian Authority.

“Negotiators for the PA disagreed with several of Kerry’s suggestions in the negotiations with Israel, especially concerning the future of Jerusalem, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press.

He explained that Kerry’s proposal to note that there is a “Palestinian aim” at making Jerusalem the capital of a new PA state does not meet Mahmoud Abbas’ demand that it be explicitly stated that eastern Jerusalem would be the capital.

A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that the Palestinian Authority is considering allowing  an Israeli military presence in the  Jordan Valley  but that the PA also would deploy forces there.

Jerusalem Arabs hurled a firebomb at a “pillbox” guard tower at the Jewish neighborhood of Ma’aleh HaZeitim (Ras al Amud) guardhouse Thursday afternoon.

No one was injured, but the guard tower was damaged. Firefighting crews put out the fire.

Rock-throwing ambushes are common in the neighborhood, which is under the sovereignty of Israel but where Arabs frequently riot.

Building Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem is a cancer,” Palestinian Authority  chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday, the day before  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to arrive with another load of diplomatic muscle.

His description upstages the United Nations,which calls 600,000 Jews in Judea, Samaria, and in eastern, southern and northern Jerusalem “illegal,” and Abbas outdoes President Barack Obama, who considers them “illegitimate.”

“We will not remain patient as the settlement cancer spreads, especially in (east) Jerusalem, and we will use our right as a U.N.  observer state by taking political, diplomatic and legal action to stop it,” Abbas said in a speech in Ramallah to mark the 49th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah party.

He also placed a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, Abbas’ predecessor who perpetuated evil by turning terror into criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Abbas pulled no punches in his comments and did his best to show Kerry that he could care less about the Secretary of State’s rules of the game not to threaten to suggest going to the United Nations in an end-run around current nine-month discussion with Israel.

Abbas all of a sudden pulled Gaza into the picture and conveniently omitted recent escalation of terrorist attacks from the Hamas-controlled area.

“We have entered negotiations amid Israeli escalation on all fronts — the Israeli army steps up its hostilities against the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, leading to the killing of dozens of citizens in the last few months,” he said.

The Supreme Court ruled in rare 2-1 split  decision Monday evening that the government can free 26 more terrorists, including five from Jerusalem.

The minority ruling implied that the Cabinet acted hastily and did not fulfill its promise last July not to release terrorists with Israel citizenship without thoroughly examining the issue.

In virtually every previous appeal challenging the release of murders, the court has ruled unanimously, Justice Eliyakim Rubinstein, in a dissenting opinion, said  that the government should have provided more information to show that it understands the ramifications of releasing terrorists living in Jerusalem and holding Israeli citizenship.

Supreme Court President Asher Grunis and Justice Tzvi Zilberthal said they did not see any reason to make a distinction between terrorists who do not have Israeli citizenship and those who do.

The court handed down its ruling as approximately 200 protesters marched in a drizzle to the Old City home of one of the terrorists. Only 15 of the demonstrators were permitted to protest outside his home due to fears of violence. The court earlier in the day overruled a decision by authorities to ban the protest.

In his dissenting opinion on the appeal by the Almagor Terror Victims association, Justice Rubinstein wrote, “There is a question if the government of Israel and the Cabinet ministers weighed their opinion on the subject and the ramifications beyond considering only the information that is noted in the list [of terrorists].”

He added that the government should hold further discussions on the subject of “freeing Eastern Jerusalem residents” before the court could decide whether to release them.

Justice Rubinstein noted that the court questioned the government several times on the issue but did not receive answers concerning whether the government held discussions specifically freeing Arabs from eastern Jerusalem, despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s statements that the issue would be addressed.

“Residents in eastern Jerusalem have the rights of Israelis,” such as receiving welfare and health insurance benefits,” Rubinstein added.

Approximately three hours after the decision, eight terrorists already were on their way to their homes in Gaza and eastern Jerusalem. Eighteen others were to leave the Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, after midnight.

Israel agreed last July to free 104 terrorists in four batches in return for the resumption of  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s so-called “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The last batch of 32 terrorists is to be freed towards the end of the nine-month period Kerry set for the discussions.

Protesters are marching in the rain in Jerusalem Monday evening and will arrive at the Jerusalem home of one of 16 terrorists to be freed by Israel.

The demonstration is being called the “Umbrella Protest” because of the rain that began falling in Jerusalem Monday afternoon.

Authorities had refused to grant a permit for the demonstration, citing concerns for security, but the Supreme Court overruled them, concluding that fears of clashes with Arabs were not based on enough evidence to bar the demonstrators from the freedom to march. However, the judges said that only 15 families could demonstrate outside the Old City home of the terrorist, Ahmed Khalaf.

One question: The Supreme Court always rules against appeals to stop the government from releasing terrorists, arguing that it does not interfere in matters of security.

So why could it overrule ”concerns of security” and allow the protesters to march but not interfere in the “security” consideration to free terrorists, which actually endangers the peace and safety of Israelis?

NBC reportedly has bowed to Palestinian Authority pressure and has cancelled plans to short part of its new “DIG” television series near the Old City in areas of Jerusalem claimed by the PA.

“There was no plan made to film the series in the City of David National Park or in the village of Silwan, furthermore, location scouting and planning will not begin until February 2014, and any decisions regarding possible production sites will be made with respect for all concerned parties,” according to an NBC official quoted by Haaretz.

The statement totally contradicts a previous NBC press release that stated that “the project would be shot in the City of David and present the exciting history of the Old City.”

It appears that NBC is taking lessons from the U.S. State Dept. on how to react to Palestinian Authority pressure.

Pope Francis will make his first official visit to Israel for only 48 hours in late May, Israel media reported Thursday.

The trip is scheduled for May 25-26 and the pope reportedly will conduct mass only in Bethlehem, in the Palestinian Authority, and not in Jerusalem. He probably will probably visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust

The Vatican did not confirm or deny the report, and is spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the French news agency AFP, “It is in the first instance up to the pope himself to decide upon and to announce such a visit.” He admitted that official have made a preparatory visit to Israel last week.