Minister Ayoob Kara (Likud) announced his intention to celebrate his new ministerial appointment by slaughtering 68 sheep on Monday, spurring outrage by animal rights organizations.

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Kara was sworn in as a minister without portfolio on Sunday, eight months after he threatened to resign if he didn't receive such an appointment. He claimed at the time that his Likud party was racist against the Druze, a community to which Kara belongs. Seven hundred guests attended his swearing-in ceremony, including the leaders of the Druze community.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Kara whispered to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "I ask for your forgiveness. I thought that you were avoiding appointing me, but you just wanted to wait for the right time. I'm sorry."

MK Ayoob Kara (R) to celebrate with sheep slaughter (Photos: Shutterstock, Amit Shabi)

Netanyahu patted the new minister on the back and replied, "You're my brother; when will you understand?"

The number of 68 sheep to be slaughtered in celebration was chosen to commemorate the number of years since the establishment of the State of Israel. Originally, 61 had been planned to mark Kara's age. Ten years ago, Kara served guests 58 sheep stuffed with rice. "Within ten minutes, all the sheep were eaten," the minister recalled. "When Minister Yisrael Katz arrived, who was still hefty at the time, there was nothing left for him."

The animal rights organization Let the Animals Live, Israel criticized Kara's manner of fêting his appointment: "Killing an animal is heartbreaking, not a sign of joy. But if we were horrified by the killing of these 68 sheep, counted one by one and their slaughter being performed openly, we must be equally horrified by the slaughter of entire herds of animals, their flesh piled in stores and restaurants, without any mark of the animals they once were."

The organization Anonymous for Animal Rights commented, "It is sad that in 2017, there are those who feel comfortable marking a celebration by slaughtering the flesh of others, be it at a ministerial appointment, a wedding buffet, or a barbecue on Independence Day…There is no join in the torture and killing of animals. Minister Ayoob Kara should find other ways of celebrating his appointment."

On Saturday night, a demonstration is to take place on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard. Thousands are expected to protest the importation of calves and lambs to Israel from Australia and Europe on cargo ships for slaughter in Israel. Last year, more than half a million animals were sent via aerial and maritime transports.

Next week, the High Court of Justice is to hear a petition calling for the end of these transports the two animal rights organizations above filed.

Kara's office commented on the matter, "To each his own. The State of Israel is a democratic country. We oppose coercion of any kind whatsoever. There are people who eat meat, and there are people who don't. We respect everybody."