Israel might use pig fat to ward off suicide attacks
Israeli police are said to be considering putting bags of pig fat on buses and in shopping centres to try to deter Muslim suicide bombers.
The suggestion is based on the fact that strict Muslim tradition says any Muslim who comes in contact with a pig before dying will be denied access to paradise.
The Israel Insidermagazine quotes the Maariv newspaper saying the idea has been given the approval of Jerusalem's Rabbinical Court.
Russian security forces reportedly buried Chechen terrorists in pigskin last year in attempts to end their suicide bombing attacks.
Israeli police have considered using pigs, or pig products to ward off terrorism in the past, but needed a rabbinical permit to carry it out, as Judaism, like Islam, regards the pig as an unclean animal, said Maariv.
Previously, Israel's Minister without portfolio Gideon Ezra and others suggested burying the corpses of suicide bombers wrapped in pigskin as a deterrent. However, the proposal never got serious consideration in Israel, with opponents saying it would only serve to encourage suicide bombers, egged on by clerics claiming Jews were defiling Islamic burial rites.
Rabbi Eliezer Moshe Fisher, of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court, said: "There is no ban on using bags of lard when saving lives is concerned. They may be used in any place that might be a target for suicide bombings, such as schools, shopping malls and railway stations."
The Maariv also quotes the rabbi saying if pig fat isn't used on buses, tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews will arm themselves with toy water pistols filled with liquid lard to be used against terrorists.
