Why are there so many stray cats in Israel?

Summarize the answers given and add some points:

During the British trusteeship of Israel, many cats were brought to Israel (allegedly to drive away mice), and this legacy has remained.

At the national level, there is no coherent legislation on this issue except that it is illegal to kill (more specifically, poison) stray animals on a large scale according to the Law on the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 1994. Several courts have ruled that killing stray animals that are harmless to the public is illegal and constitutes animal cruelty.

Most Israeli cities do not kill stray cats by catching/spraying or sterilizing/releasing (TNR). You can notice that many stray cats in Israel have a deliberate scratch/cut on their ears, indicating that they have been "repaired" by the authorities.

Rabies or other dangerous diseases are not common in Israel. More importantly, the general social "psychology" in Israel is not afraid. Therefore, cats are usually not considered as "animals carrying diseases".

It seems that many Israelis feed stray cats (like Turkey, they are good at taking care of stray cats). In many urban communities in Israel, there are "cat ladies" who feed cats outside. This is completely legal.

The proportion of vegetarians in the Israeli population is very high. If this can be regarded as an indicator, it shows that people seem to generally like animals and care about them.

There is an active animal rights organization in Israel. The first SPCA in Israel was established in 1927! Any municipality that dares to consider or try to "exterminate" cats (and stray dogs) on a large scale is facing an arduous battle.

If anyone believes this and this survey, then 25-30% of Israelis have pets at home (pet dogs are twice as popular as pet cats), which makes this country quite friendly to cats/dogs.

Other interesting facts are that about 30% Israeli family pets are adopted from the street, another 20% are adopted from animal shelters, and 70% Israeli pet owners don't care about the breed or pedigree of their pets.

Judaism has many rules prohibiting cruelty to animals.