Dairy producers to shut off Israel’s milk supply

Israel’s dairy industry goes on strike, leaving the country without fresh milk beginning Tuesday, in protest of government’s plans to cut the cost of dairy products.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s dairy industry is set to go on strike beginning Tuesday, halting the delivery of fresh milk as part of the industry’s protest against plans by the government to reform dairy production and reduce the cost of living.

On Monday, the Israeli Cattle Breeders’ Association announced that milk producers will go on strike starting tomorrow, ramping up pressure on the coalition to nix the planned reform of the milk industry.

The ICBA said it was “inundated” over the past 24 hours with appeals from dairy farmers calling for “extreme protest measures” to challenge the planned reform.

The association’s leadership, the ICBA said, “has decided to heed these requests and is calling on all dairy farmers to join the halt in milk supply, in a last-ditch effort to awaken policymakers and warn against the abandonment of settlement and Israeli agriculture.”

“This is a step that has not been taken since the establishment of the state, not even during periods of war or pandemic.”

The proposed changes are being pushed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party), and would, if enacted, reduce government controls on the dairy market, allowing for greater competition, with the goal of reducing prices.

Quotas on the importation of dairy goods would be gradually eased, while at the same time, the government-mandated cost of milk would be cut, as the least efficient dairy farms – which currently raise the average cost of producing milk, thereby driving up the price set by the government – would be paid to shut down.

Several hundred small dairy farms are expected to become financially unviable and close as a result of the reform, while the cost of milk is projected to fall anywhere from 8 to 10%, with significantly larger declines in the costs of various cheeses.

Currently, the average cost of producing one liter of raw milk in Israel stands at 2.4 shekels – or one-third higher than the average rate in the European Union. Some dairy products, including various cheeses, are even more expensive in Israel relative to the EU, with prices ranging from 20 to 80% more in Israel, depending on the type of cheese.

The dairy industry has vociferously opposed the reform, lobbying coalition lawmakers to block it from moving through the Knesset.

While the reform would normally move through the Knesset’s Economic Affairs Committee, the staunch opposition of its chairman, MK David Bitan (Likud), has forced Smotrich to seek an alternative committee to assess the proposal.

It is currently slated to be sent to the House Committee, which will determine which committee will hold deliberations on the reform.