Israeli police are to hang bags of pig lard on buses and in other public places to deter would-be Muslim suicide bombers, Israeli media have reported.
The Maariv daily said rabbinical authorities sanctioned the plan to use the product - considered impure by Jews and Muslims - if it might save lives.
According to Islamic tradition, Muslims who touch a pig before dying will be denied entry to Heaven.
Hundreds of Israelis have been killed by suicide bombers in recent years.
Rabbinical approval
Muslim militants believe they will be rewarded with 70 virgins in paradise by carrying out suicide bombings against those they regard as enemies of Islam.
Officials hope the prospect that bombers will defile their bodies by blowing up the bags of pig lard as well as themselves might discourage would-be recruits.
Rabbi Eliezer Moshe Fisher, of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court, said there was no "halachic [Jewish law] ban on using bags of lard in buses and other places" when saving lives is concerned, the newspaper reported.
He said the bags would also be permitted to be placed in shopping centres, train stations, schools and other public places which might be targeted by bombers.
The rabbi said if police do not enact the plan, tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews will arm themselves with guns capable of spraying liquid pig lard at suspects.
