Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (Israel)

The ministry describes its purpose as advancing Israel's agricultural sector and strengthening the national food system so that people have reliable access to safe, nutritious, high-quality, and affordable food in routine conditions and during disruptions.[1] Its stated vision is for Israeli agriculture to provide fresh, local, healthy food while reinforcing national food security, rural vitality, and long-term resilience.[1]

A State Comptroller report summarizes the ministry's responsibilities as implementing government policy to advance crop and livestock agriculture; helping ensure food supply in routine times and emergencies; supporting agricultural development in settlements and the rural sector; shaping domestic and overseas marketing policy for agricultural produce; conducting research and development and providing agricultural guidance; financing investment on farms; protecting plants and animals; and providing veterinary oversight.[6] The Comptroller's report defines food security as encompassing food availability and access as well as the continuity and stability of supply in the face of risks such as climate damage, war, price fluctuations, and disruptions to production and transport.[6]

The ministry's stated strategic objectives include maintaining a continuous food supply in routine and emergency conditions; promoting healthy, sustainable, and affordable nutrition; strengthening diverse, efficient, and climate-resilient domestic production; advancing a competitive food industry; protecting natural resources; reducing food loss and waste; managing imports through trade diversification and risk management; and promoting research, innovation, and coordinated governance.[1] Described actions to pursue these goals include improving access to water, land, and labor; strengthening logistics and supply-chain resilience; commercializing research; investing in infrastructure; safeguarding public, plant, and animal health; and improving digital systems and regulation.[1]

The agriculture portfolio in Israel's first government was held by Dov Yosef alongside supply and rationing functions.[2] In the government formed on November 1, 1949, the Ministry of Supply and Rationing was dissolved, and its functions were divided between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.[2] For much of its subsequent history the ministry was known as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, a title recorded in a Library of Congress web-archive entry associated with 2001 and used in a 2026 Congressional Research Service report identifying Avi Dichter as Agriculture and Rural Development Minister.[7][8]

The ministry's environmental-law responsibilities grew steadily. A 2005 Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies report noted that "since 1926, each decade has brought the Ministry more laws, with a recent increase," and that the ministry held authority over 48 environmental laws—second among all government ministries—with 40 percent concerning nature and landscape protection.[3] The ministry held exclusive authority over 23 percent of the laws in its jurisdiction and shared authority mostly with the Ministry of Interior.[3]

On June 30, 2024, the government formally changed the ministry's name to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.[5] The explanation cited security and geopolitical threats and the climate crisis.[5] Health Minister Uriel Busso abstained from the vote, arguing that the Ministry of Health regulates the food sector and proposing that any new ministry title refer specifically to "raw food"—a disagreement reflecting a broader question about the boundary between the two ministries' responsibilities.[5]

The ministry comprises several functional divisions and services, each covering distinct areas of agricultural and food-system governance.

Food Security Administration. The Food Security Administration was established to maintain national food security alongside farmers who produce raw food and is entrusted with preparing Israel's food security plan through 2050.[9] Its stated purpose is to ensure local food-production capacity and a regular supply of healthy, affordable food over the medium and long term, in sufficient quantity, quality, variety, and physical and economic accessibility, while promoting sustainable and climate-adapted food systems.[9]

Crisis Management Division. Established in January 2014 under professional guidance from the National Emergency Authority and the Home Front Command, this division addresses incidents threatening the ministry's or the agricultural sector's functional continuity.[10] In routine periods it maintains readiness among essential supply-chain enterprises, prepares livestock operations to remain self-sufficient for several days in emergencies, audits factories and regional councils, monitors emergency stocks of wheat and fodder, and writes emergency procedures and action plans.[10] During emergencies it works to preserve agricultural activity and fresh-food supply, support affected farmers, and liaise among ministry districts, local agricultural committees, essential enterprises, and national emergency bodies.[10]

Planning and Agricultural Land Division. Established in 2023 after the Planning Authority was transferred to the Ministry of Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, this division represents the ministry in planning and construction institutions and the Israel Lands Council.[11] It initiates council decisions concerning agricultural land and rural settlements and covers policy fields including rural planning, agricultural settlements, economic and municipal development, renewable energy, and settlement law.[11]

Division for Research, Economics and Strategy. This division initiates economic studies to inform agricultural policy, develops economic models for evaluating policy alternatives, and advises ministry management on risk management, pricing policy, and taxation.[12] Its marketing information center collects, processes, and distributes data on export markets and competing producers, serving decision-makers, growers, exporters, and growers' organizations.[12]

Plant Protection and Inspection Services. Operating as an enforcement and professional-services arm, this unit monitors and prevents plant pests and regulates agricultural produce imports and exports.[13] It is authorized to issue international trade certificates, including phytosanitary health certificates, organic-produce export certificates, and quality certificates for fresh agricultural produce.[13] Areas of work include imports and exports of fruit, vegetables, plants and plant products, organic agriculture, pesticides, and plant nurseries.[13]

Center for Foreign Trade and International Cooperation. This center promotes trade policy aimed at ensuring year-round availability, quality, and variety of fresh food at fair prices, while supporting agricultural exports and presenting Israeli agriculture internationally.[14] It designs agricultural chapters in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, oversees tariff-rate quotas and import licensing, and reports trade data to the WTO and OECD.[14] Its foreign-relations department develops cooperation with governments, international organizations, and relevant NGOs, and arranges professional visits, exhibitions, and seminars.[14]

Forestry and Trees Division. The Forest Commissioner, appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, oversees forest management carried out by the Jewish National Fund on behalf of the government, approves forest work schemes, and oversees tree conservation across the country.[15] Tree felling is described as an irreversible measure permitted only as a last resort, requiring case-by-case authorization from the Chief Forest Officer or regional officials.[15]

District offices. The ministry operates four districts—North, Center, Negev, and Shephelah and Mountain—responsible for agricultural planning and development, land and water issues, farmer services, and distributing ministry support.[6] In 2025 the ministry combined the Galilee and Golan and the Valleys districts into the North district.[6] During emergencies, districts are to assemble situation reports, assist farms facing threats to operational continuity, coordinate with local authorities and essential facilities, and relay information to ministry headquarters and national emergency bodies.[6]

Earlier descriptions of the ministry's structure—some of which may not reflect its current organization—also included Extension Service offices providing individual guidance and farm development planning through ten district and regional offices; a Soil Conservation and Drainage Department responsible for 23 drainage authorities and eight pasture authorities; and an Agricultural Research Administration comprising research institutes working on new strains, mechanization, and technologies suited to Israel's export markets.[4][16]

Veterinary Services and the Plant Protection Service operate within the ministry as regulatory bodies and often adopt standards developed by European Union standards organizations, according to the U.S. Department of State's 2025 Investment Climate Statement.[17] In 2024, Israel adopted more than 40 new regulations under the Protection of Public Health (Food Law) related to agricultural imports; the Department of State noted that the regulations provided limited information about future legislative changes, creating a lack of clarity for American exporters.[17]

The ministry's environmental responsibilities are extensive and long-standing. Administrative units examined by the 2005 Jerusalem Institute report included planning, forestry, veterinary services and cattle health, plant protection, aquaculture and fisheries, drainage and soil protection, land preservation, grazing, open land, training, and foreign relations.[3] An older profile stated that the agriculture minister chaired the Israel Lands Council and that the ministry collaborated with the Jewish Agency's Rural Settlement Department to establish and consolidate new communities; these descriptions should not be assumed to represent the current division of responsibilities.[4]

The same historical profile described ministry work encompassing short- and long-term agricultural planning, consumption and strategic-market forecasts, sectoral growing and production quotas, agricultural infrastructure, regional enterprises, settlement patterns, and agricultural and rural-settlement research.[4] A current ministry policy document separately confirms responsibilities involving agricultural development, continuity of food supply, economic research, supportive regulation, and oversight of regulated prices in sectors including dairy and eggs.[1]

The ministry is leading a National Food Security Program intended to strengthen the resilience, stability, and sustainability of Israel's food system through 2050, with interim targets for 2030 and 2040.[1][18] The program takes a system-wide approach spanning agricultural production, logistics, nutrition, trade, infrastructure, research, innovation, data, and risk management, and is implemented through interministerial collaboration and professional working groups.[1]

Working groups involved officials from the ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Economy and Industry, Health, and Environmental Protection, with participation or professional accompaniment from bodies including the National Security Council, the National Emergency Management Authority, and the Israel Innovation Authority.[19] A 2025 account described four strategic pillars: steering the economy toward recommended nutrition; preventing shortages and ensuring continuous, stable supply; developing broad, diverse, and resilient domestic agricultural and food-industry production alongside complementary imports; and preserving food-system continuity over the long term.[20]

Production goals set for a population of approximately 16 million in 2050 include increases of 65 percent in plant production, 52 percent in milk, 56 percent in eggs, 14 percent in cattle and sheep, and 9 percent in poultry and turkey, as well as increases of about 115 percent in vegetable output and 44 percent in fruit output.[19] The ministry's director general said the plan was being developed in light of wartime disruption to farming, including the displacement of farmers in the south and north.[18] A 2024 account noted that approximately 60 percent of Israel's food supply by calories came from imports and 40 percent from local production, and reported that the ministry cited 20 countries restricting exports during the COVID-19 pandemic peak and 25 countries doing so during the war in Ukraine as evidence of the risks of import dependence.[18]

The outbreak of war following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks placed severe strain on Israeli agriculture and thrust the ministry into an emergency operational role. An INSS analysis attributed to the ministry an estimate that the loss of agricultural workers, combined with restricted access to areas near combat zones, caused an approximately 30 percent shortage in Israel's local tomato supply and shortages of other vegetables.[21] Israeli agriculture had relied mainly on Palestinian and foreign labor, and the war resulted in the loss of approximately 30,000 workers.[21]

Israel's food-import dependence underscored the strategic stakes. Using 2021 data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the INSS reported that about 96 percent of Israel's grain, 93 percent of its fish supply, 73 percent of its legumes, oil seeds, peanuts, and nuts, and 43 percent of its beef were imported.[21] Vegetables, fruit, dairy, and poultry derived predominantly from Israeli production, though milk and chicken production still depended primarily on imported grains.[21] Large areas of the western Negev, which form the backbone of Israeli agriculture, were reported to produce approximately 70 percent of the country's vegetables.[22]

Yuval Lipkin, deputy director general of the Agriculture Ministry, described the situation as "Israel's agriculture is in its biggest crisis since the establishment of Israel," referencing damage to agricultural communities and infrastructure in the western Negev after October 7.[22]

The ministry's national emergency headquarters was activated on October 8, 2023. From October 11, 2023, through February 6, 2024, it received 2,391 requests for assistance.[6] A State Comptroller review later praised the establishment and coordination work of the ministry's Security, Emergency and Cyber Division while noting that records did not fully show whether all requests had been handled and applicants notified.[6]

An INSS report on food supply chains recommended that the ministry work with supermarket chains to sell available Israeli produce even when it did not meet standard size or appearance requirements, and proposed that the government acquire unsold produce and direct it to disadvantaged consumers or food-processing factories, with the goals of reducing food waste, supporting farmers' livelihoods, and increasing access to fruits and vegetables.[23] The report also recommended strengthening ministry staffing at ports to accelerate goods release and inspections, including on Shabbat when necessary.[23] These were proposals in the report, not descriptions of enacted policy.

A State Comptroller review of the ministry's emergency preparations found significant gaps in planning documents relative to actual wartime conditions. The ministry's agricultural-sector reference scenario dated from November 2010 and had not been updated to reflect later national emergency scenarios or changes in the agricultural sector.[6] The ministry's 2015 emergency-response plan had also not been updated before the war's outbreak and did not cover damage to plant produce.[6]

Planned annual supply figures in the 2015 plan were below 2023 actual consumption levels. For example, the plan provided for 422,000 tonnes of live broilers against reported consumption of 581,000 tonnes, and 1.768 billion eggs against 2.74 billion.[6] The ministry told the Comptroller in June 2025 that an update begun in 2023 had been interrupted by the war and that it intended to complete it.[6]