Israel Bans Real Fur
Israel banned real fur sale. Consequently, Israel became the first country to do so. Details of the ban are noted below.
- PETA, alongside the local activists, lobbied government officials in Tel Aviv and appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to support a ban on fur for years.
- Israel Minister of Environmental Protection Gila Gamliel signed the bill into law on June the 9th after 86% of Israelis showed support for the proposal.
- “Commerce in animal fur, imports and exports, will be banned except for the needs of research, study or certain religious traditions,” the environment ministry stated.
- Fur is used for hats called “shtreimels” worn by some ultra-Orthodox Jews. Hence, religious usage might be exempt.
- “On this historic day, Israel has set an ethical precedent and hopefully other nations shall join them and ban the sale of barbaric and cruel blood fashion fur,” the Anti-Fur coalition wrote on its Facebook page.
- The ministerial decree is to take effect in six months.
- The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) invited other countries to follow suit.
- “Cramming sick and stressed animals together in unsanitary conditions on fur farms creates the perfect breeding ground for deadly diseases,” it said. “The novel coronavirus has been found on mink fur farms in a dozen countries.”