From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Dairy farmers, sour over Smotrich’s planned reform, removed from Knesset after protest
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
As Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich opens the debate on the 2026 state budget ahead of its first reading in the Knesset plenum, several dairy farmers are removed from the visitors’ gallery after donning T-shirts reading “dairy farmer” to protest Smotrich’s proposed dairy reform.
Dairy prices have long been a flashpoint in Israel, with spikes often touching off public anger and even mass protests amid the country’s high cost of living — an issue that has consistently ranked among voters’ top concerns in recent elections.
Amid recurring nationwide shortages of price-controlled milk, Smotrich has spearheaded a reform intiative, vowing to end a problem that he has argued stems from an overregulated, overly concentrated dairy market.
Addressing reporters in the Knesset last week, Smotrich argued that cheese prices are artificially high due to local monopolies, which “have limited the quantity of imports and forced us all to pay dearly” and touted an order he had signed to increase the duty-free quota for hard cheese by 70 percent, to 19,500 tons.
Dairy associations have warned that the reform will severely damage the domestic dairy industry and lead to the closure of about 400 dairy farms in kibbutzim and peripheral areas across the country. Local dairy industry advocates have claimed that the reform will have serious implications for food security and consumers in Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.