Israel Banned Pig Farming Nationwide — But the Story Is Messier Than You Think

Few laws in modern Israeli history have stirred as much political passion as the rules around the pig. The prohibition runs far deeper than religious dietary law: it is entwined with Jewish collective memory, nationhood, and the recurring question of how Jewish a Jewish state should be. When Israel was founded in 1948, even secular Zionist leaders agreed that pigs had no place in the new country — partly as a religious symbol, but also because enemies of the Jewish people, from Hellenistic Greeks to Russian tsarists, had long used pork as a tool of persecution. By the early 1960s, pig farming had actually reached its peak, with tens of farms operating near Tel Aviv, Haifa, and even Jerusalem. Religious parties pushed hard for a total ban, and in 1962 the Knesset passed the Pig-Raising Prohibition Law by a vote of 42 to 15. However, to avoid appearing to impose Jewish religious law on non-Jews, lawmakers carved out an exemption for Christian communities — chiefly in the Galilee. Pork could be raised in Nazareth and six nearby towns. A further twist: Israel's Supreme Court has repeatedly been drawn into pig-related litigation, most famously in Solodkin v. Beit Shemesh Municipality (2004), where it examined whether municipal bylaws banning pork sales were constitutional. The 1990s influx of Russian immigrants who were accustomed to eating pork added a fresh wave of pressure on local authorities. Today pork remains legally available in Israel but occupies a uniquely complicated cultural space — euphemistically called 'white meat' in Hebrew.