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As the Nineteenth Knesset’s first legislative session draws to a close, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) takes stock of major legislative initiatives affecting human rights in its Summer Session Knesset Roundup.
Click here to read the full report.
Topping the session’s agenda and activities were the State budget and the Economic Arrangements Law. Despite the fact that social welfare issues were at the forefront of Israeli society’s national debate, the budget, a veritable laundry list of spending cuts to social services, reflects no change in the government’s priorities or approach to social issues. It includes cutbacks in child allowances, a freezing of the dental care reforms, an increase in the flat (regressive) value-added tax, and general tax increases across all income bracket.
In the area of planning and building, this Knesset continued where the previous one left off, promoting a series of laws and bills – first and foremost an extension and expansion of the National Housing Committees Law, which has thus far failed to ensure public or affordable housing. Though mindful of the importance of managing the housing crisis, ACRI and the Center for Responsible Planning warn that none of the many bills being promoted include a social dimension – they do not provide affordable housing and do not include mechanisms to secure the interests of the public in national and local planning.
Continuing in the path of the previous Knesset:
• The Plan for the Resettlement of the Bedouin (The Prawer/Begin Plan) was approved by the government and a bill was passed in its first reading. The plan drew sharp criticism from the Bedouin population and human rights organizations who warn that it violates human rights and threatens to forcibly displace tens of thousands of citizens from their homes, while destroying their villages and harming their way of life.
• The 19th Knesset also continued promoting legislative initiatives designed to abuse asylum seekers who have entered Israeli territory while ignoring the state’s basic obligations towards people fleeing for their lives. A bill to restrict “infiltrators'” disbursements abroad was approved and a bill to restrict their employment continues to be promoted.
• This Knesset also pushed forward several anti-democratic bills, some of which were even supported by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, including a draft Basic Law: The National Jewish State, a bill to limit donations from foreign countries to NGOs, and the “Jenin Jenin Bill” designed to prevent defamation of IDF soldiers as a group.
Attorney Debbie Gild-Hayo, Director of Policy Advocacy at ACRI: “After extensive social protest and an election that led to the replacement of nearly half the members of Knesset, it is disappointing to see that, at least during its first session, the Knesset hasn’t changed. Many of the initiatives promoted in the last session, including long-term initiatives, were approved in haste, without properly weighing their implications on the public interest.”
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To read the full Knesset Summer Session Roundup, click here.
