Israel Cat Fight Erupts as Minister Pushes to Deport Strays
A meme from the Facebook of Israeli satirical show, “Eretz Nehederet”. Image by Facebook / Eretz Nehederet
Claws were out on Monday after an Israeli cabinet minister proposed sending stray dogs and cats to another country as an alternative to government-funded efforts to sterilize them.
“Use the budget to transfer stray dogs and/or cats of one gender (all the males or all the females) to a foreign nation that will agree to accept them,” Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel suggested in a letter to a cabinet colleague leaked to the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth daily.
The proposal, which a spokesman for Ariel said had been rejected after initial consultations within the Agriculture Ministry, was roundly criticized by animal rights activists and bemused opposition politicians.
“No way am I going to apply for a foreign passport for Pitzkeleh,” former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni tweeted above a photo showing the smiling Zionist Union party politician reclining on a sofa and feeding her cat.
Image by Tzipi Livni's Facebook
“Pitzi Ziv-Yachimovich,” Shelly Yachimovich wrote on her Facebook page with the video bellow, “A neutered cat, who aspires for peace and equality, born in this country, Zionist and social-democrat, would like to respond:”
הי זאת שלי, שר החקלאות אורי אריאל הודיע שהוא מתנגד לסרוס חתולים המנוגד להלכה, וקרא לבצע טרנספר לחתולים. פיצי זיו-יחימוביץ, חתול מסורס, שוחר שלום ושוויון, יליד הארץ הזאת, ציוני וסוציאל דמוקרט, מבקש להגיב. הנה.
Posted by שלי יחימוביץ on Monday, November 2, 2015
The newspaper report said Ariel, a religious Jew and a member of the far-right Jewish Home party, views spaying and neutering as possible violations of God’s directive “to be fruitful and multiply” and ritual law that prohibits animal cruelty.
But Zahava Galon, head of the opposition left-wing Meretz party, wrote on Facebook that Ariel’s idea ran contrary to “basic morality” – and she quipped that it was time to find a country prepared to grant the minister shelter instead. (
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
