Fur – Your Information

July 9, 2010 by: Dana Karni

Forget about the Gaza flotilla, the issue of illegal settlements or the resumption of peace talks. What just may spark the next crisis between Israel and the world is none other than a progressive bill banning fur from being imported and traded in Israel.

One might ask why would Israel - a country with an average of 90 degrees Fahrenheit- even need such a law. Who want to wear fur in the desert anyway and who would object to an anti fur law here? Well its seems this time, Denmark is in a tizzy for starters.

For many years, animal right organizations and Israeli parliamentary members have promoted a bill that would forbid or at least limit fur imports to Israel. The bill, now in the final process of legislation, forbids the import and trade of almost all wild animals, with the exception of animals that serve to make shtreimels [fur hats] for the ultra-Orthodox Jews. The exception was added in order to prevent the Orthodox parties from rejecting the law.

But now the Danish government, along with several other countries that engage in fur trading, are objecting. They're not afraid of losing the very small and limited Israeli fur market but, they do fear that other states will follow Israel’s example and pass similar laws, which would harm their thriving fur industry.

“There is a huge pressure campaign on us,” a source associated with the issue told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth “Ministers, ambassadors and members of parliament, mainly from Denmark but also from Canada, the US, Greece and Finland, are pressuring us and threatening that if we pass the bill it will work against us.”

In a steamy country not known for keeping its cool when under threat, many members of the Knesset are seeing their own temperatures rise. One source said its simply rude to contribute "to the abuse of animals because a few industrialists in Europe fear that we will be a light unto the nations on such an important issue.”