A bill to amend the Jewish state’s Cruelty to Animals Law and ban the import of dog, cat or rabbit fur — it passed in a Knesset committee last week — has pitted Haredim against animal activists, Israeli paper Yediot Ahronot reported.

Orthodox Knesset members and religious community activists, argue that the motion and talk of proposals for a ban of all fur from around the world, would severely hamper the local shtreimel (fur-trimmed hats worn by particular sects of ultra-Orthodox Jews) market, making it difficult for Haredim to maintain their traditional religious attire. Religious MKs, argue that they support the law, but are lobbying hard for a provision that would allow the import of fur specifically for religious purposes.

If the religious community fails, perhaps designing a faux-fur shtreimel will be one of the challenges on Israel’s first season of “Project Runway,” the Israeli franchise of the hit American fashion-design competition television series.

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The first episode of Israel’s “Project Runway” aired last week on the cable station HOT.

In the American version, they say, “One day you’re in, and the next day you’re out.” And in the Hebrew-language version, they say, “In Israel one day you dictate fashion, and the next you’re a fashion victim.”

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