As darkness falls on her suburban Jerusalem street, Ilana Ben Joya ventures out to feed about 30 cats.

Key points: Israelis blame the British for bringing cats to the Holy Land after World War I

Israelis blame the British for bringing cats to the Holy Land after World War I Scientists say there are now millions of felines roaming Israel

Scientists say there are now millions of felines roaming Israel The council spays about 2,500 cats each year

The primary school teacher is one of many Jerusalem residents who love and look after the city's stray cats.

"I love them, I feel pity for them," Ms Ben Joya said.

"They are very lonely and hungry, and sometimes my husband says 'they are more important than me', so I say 'yes, you are right'."

But she recognises that Jerusalem, like much of Israel, has too many feral cats.

"There are many people who feed cats but not so many for all the cats that we have," Ms Ben Joya said.

Scientists say the cats are causing enormous damage to native wildlife. ( Flickr: Guillaume Paumier )

Israelis blame the British for bringing cats to the Holy Land when they administered the region after World War I, supposedly to control a rat plague.

Scientists say there are now millions of cats roaming Israel, causing enormous damage to native wildlife populations.

New garbage bins reduce scavenging

The Jerusalem City Council has announced new funding for the city's cat problem. But instead of removing the felines, the city will instead spend about $40,000 a year subsidising the purchase of cat food for volunteers like Ms Ben Joya to distribute.

Council veterinarian Assaf Brill said the policy was a response to concerns about the installation of new garbage bins to reduce scavenging by cats and birds.

"Usually in our streets all the garbage was in open tanks and all the animals can go and eat, and this was not the right way in a modern country," Dr Brill said.

"During the last few years we had a project [to install] special garbage tanks that are under the ground … [but] there was a lot of people who feed cats and love cats and they start to say that these cats will be without food and will die.

"The mayor of the city decided to help the people who feed cats."

Cats were supposedly brought into Israel to control a rat plague after World War I. ( ABC News: Eric Tlozek )

Dr Brill said the council also spays about 2,500 cats per year.

But studies suggest such programs do not have a major impact on feral cat numbers, something Dr Brill acknowledges.

"We have a lot of cats but I don't know any place that succeed in reducing the amount of cats without any active actions, without poisoning or something like this, and we are not going to do it," he said.

'It's just like taking your money and burning it'

Shai Meiri, a professor of zoology at Tel Aviv University, said killing cats would be a far more effective control measure, but it would be hugely unpopular in Israel.

"The cat lovers, they like their cats," he said.

"For them, a dead bird is bad but a dead bird is better than a hungry cat."

Professor Meiri said the Jerusalem City Council's decision to fund their feeding would exacerbate the problems they cause.

"You feed them more, there'll be more of them and then more of them will be hungry," he said.

"So it's just like taking your money and burning it.