The following is a translation of the written appeal sent by ACRI Attorney Sharon Abraham-Weiss to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to protest against the discriminatory terms of employment endured by Ethiopian rabbis, who are denied social benefits and are paid a significantly lower salary than their non-Ethiopian colleagues. As a result of ACRI’s intervention, the head of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and the Diaspora, MK Collette Avital, called a meeting to discuss the issue; the meeting resulted in representatives from the Office of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Finance admitting that the rabbis had been treated in a discriminatory manner, and confirming that there is a basis for the claims of discrimination raised by ACRI. In addition, officials from the religious affairs office agreed to examine the financial management of the rabbis` salaries, to meet with a representative from the Ministry of Finance to investigate the claims in depth, and to redress the inequitable salary allocation as a means of bringing it into line with the prescribed wage agreement.
14th September 2005
To:
Mr. Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister
3 Kaplan St.
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem 91919
Re: The terms of employment for Ethiopian Rabbis
I am writing to you on behalf of a group of Ethiopian Rabbis who have requested that ACRI’s legal staff help them in their appeal against their discriminatory terms of employment and reduced salaries. Following a subsequent assessment that was carried out by ACRI, we fear that:
a) The monies that are transferred from the National Authority for Religious Services under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office (to pay the rabbis salaries), do not reach their designated targets in full. Thus, the Rabbis of Ethiopian origin receive a reduced wage, and some are denied social benefits, which directly contravenes the instructions issued by the Prime Minister.
b) The salaries of the Ethiopian rabbis and their terms of employment are significantly inferior to those of their colleagues who are not of Ethiopian origin. The wage agreements that relate specifically to the rabbis’ salaries, do not apply, for reasons that are unclear, to Ethiopian rabbis; in addition to which, the formal procedures for defining rank and associated salary allowances are unclear, non-transparent, and raise a real suspicion that Rabbis of Ethiopian origin are discriminated against in relation to their non-Ethiopian colleagues.
We are writing to you as the designated minister for religious affairs and the religious council.
A. General Background
1. Approximately 100,000 Ethiopian nationals reside in the state of Israel, the majority of which came to the country in the 90s. A comprehensive survey that was carried out by the Adva Center, to examine their position vis-à-vis housing, education and employment, revealed that the majority of this ethnic group are positioned at the bottom of the socio-economic scale of Israeli society, and are far from its power center. The information collated by the investigative center and the Knesset, and a background paper entitled "The Ethiopian Community: A General Assessment, Social Gaps and Claims of Discrimination" paint a depressing picture of the community`s socio-economic situation. A series of Israeli governments have set themselves the target of advancing the Ethiopian community. It was not in vain that the amendment to the Civil Service Law was recently enacted which obligates state agencies to ensure the fair representation of individuals of whom at least one of the parents is of Ethiopian origin. However, as we will show in this document, good intentions and reality bear little relation to each other.
B. The Appointment of Ethiopian Rabbis
2. The rabbis and Keses of Ethiopian origin have been appointed by the minister in charge of religious since 1995 already. In 2002, 13 Ethiopian rabbis agreed to serve in the religious councils, concurrent to which, 58 Keses were serving as rabbis at the same time.
3. The budget for the rabbis and the Keses comes directly from the Prime Minister, and appears in the state budget under the heading "The Employment of Keses in the Councils". Moreover, in the letter that was sent out by the deputy head of the Religious Council, Mr. Yehoshua Ishai, to the incumbent heads of the religious councils, the deputy head clearly determined the cost of salaries and noted that the total amount allocated for social benefit payment to be paid to the rabbis would be 27% of the total amount transferred, and that the payments would include National Insurance payments, employment tax, salary related tax, and compensation.
C. Does the Salary Reach its Destination in Full?
4. It should be noted that despite the direct budgeting and the explicit instructions of the General Manager of the Ministry of Religion, in fact, when the rabbis attempted to clarify what social benefits were being paid to them, they discovered that they do not receive their full salary and the social benefits they are entitled to.
5. The fact that the full salary is not reaching its prescribed destination is already known by the Ministry of Religion Affairs, already on 24.10.05, the Director of the Ministry of Religion, Mr. Gadalia Shriver, wrote to the religious council heads, in a letter entitled "The Employment of Rabbis and Keses by the Ministry". In the opening of the letter, Mr. Shriver states that "in an investigation carried out by our office it has became clear that the payments under discussion were not being paid in full as is required by the regulations and the budgets determined by our office". Mr. Shriver further states that the total amount of social benefit payments will be fixed at 28.5% of the monies transferred and will include National Insurance, employment tax, and money allocated for the payment of compensation.
D. The Terms of Employment
6. Apart from the reductions in the Rabbis salaries and the disappearing social benefits, as will be detailed below, a closer look at the issue reveals that the terms of employment of Ethiopian rabbis "differ" from those Rabbis who are not Ethiopian descent. Despite the fact that the Ethiopian rabbis are employed by the Religious Council, and all are defined by the job description of marriage registrar, the salary of the Ethiopian Rabbi is significantly lower that that of his non-Ethiopian counterpart. The confusing factor for me is how the cost of the rabbis salary was calculated, who determined what the salaries would be, and how are they updated? Unfortunately, I have been able to find out the answers to these questions through written and verbal correspondence.
7. An examination of the salary slip of March 2005 for the Ethiopian Rabbi for Gadera and Beit Shemesh shows that he receives a gross salary of 4,118 NIS, which is far lower than the salary agreed in the wage agreement. Despite the fact that this rabbi serves a geographically dispersed community he does not receive the equivalent car or travel expenses like his non-Ethiopian colleagues.
8. Moreover, Ethiopian rabbis in Ashdod and Gadera report that unlike their colleagues who are not Ethiopian, they are not entitled to extra payment for the marriage ceremonies they perform.
9. The following example of Rabbi Shai Ma’arad clearly highlights the discriminatory treatment of Ethiopian rabbis. For a number of years he received a full salary in accordance with the wage agreement like the rest of his colleagues who are employed as rabbis. However, in January 2004, when he examined his bank account and salary slip, Rabbi Ma’arad discovered that his salary had been reduced by 3000 NIS a month! He was shocked and turned to Ms. Brururia Francis, Deputy Director of Religious Affairs at the Prime Minister’s office, to rectify the mistake. She then referred him to his immediate superior, Mr. Haim Brudjak. Mr. Brudjak claimed that it was the Workers Union that had ordered the cut in salary, and that he doubted that he could do anything about the matter. However, in order to calm Rabbi Ma’arad, he promised he would do whatever he could to clarify the issue. Despite this promise, Mr. Brudjak has, to this day, failed to provide any answers despite the large amount of time that has passed and the multiple repeated appeals.
10. During this period Rabbi Shai was mistakenly sent full salary slips for the months of January-April 2004, that appear to be in accordance with the wage agreement, as well as the “reduced” salary slips for the same months. The table below shows the specific differences in the two salaries for April 2004, whose source, among other things is a result of the differing definitions of rank. As noted previously, it is the sum of the lower salary slip that was deposited into the Rabbi’s bank account.
11. The differences between the two salary slips, that reach thousands of shekels a month, speak for themselves:
Comparative salary slips – the Ethiopian Rabbi of Arad, April 2004
[…]
12. Not only does the wage agreement which establishes clear and transparent criteria, not apply to Rabbis of Ethiopian origin, but the Prime Minister’s Office also denotes different job descriptions for these rabbis even though the office allocates, in theory, the same sum for all rabbis and Keses. Thus, for example, while Rabbi Yasu from Gadera and Beit Shemesh is defined as a regional rabbi, Rabbi Shai from Arad is described as a “neighborhood” rabbi, and Rabbi Michael from Ashdod is defined as a “Kes”. The meaning of this differentiation is unclear. Likewise, the permanent ranking system that appears on the salary slips is not clear and changes from one rabbi to another.
13. According to the information set forth above, theoretically, the wage agreement, the regulations governing the employment terms of civil servants, and the labor laws, apply to the Ethiopian rabbis. However, for various reasons, despite the fact that for some ten years they have acted as rabbis and marriage registrars for their communities, the permanent terms of these agreements do not apply to them. As a result their salaries are reduced significantly in relation to other rabbis who are not Ethiopian, and they do not receive a number of social benefits such as a pension.
14. It is apparent, from the information set forth above, that Ethiopian rabbis are discriminated against in comparison to rabbis that are not of Ethiopian origin. We, therefore request that you:
We would appreciate a rapid response to this letter which will allow us to plan our subsequent steps to ensure that the rights of these rabbis do not continue to be violated, and to minimize the impact of these violations on the rabbis as much as possible.
Yours sincerely
Attorney Sharon Abraham-Weiss
last updated : 21/12/05
