Report on Human Rights Practices for 2010

Israel

Israel is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately 7.7 million, including Israelis living in the occupied territories. Israel has no constitution, although a series of "Basic Laws" enumerate fundamental rights. Certain fundamental laws, orders, and regulations legally depend on the existence of a "State of Emergency," which has been in effect since 1948. The 120-member, unicameral Knesset has the power to dissolve the government and mandate elections. The February 2009 elections for the Knesset were considered free and fair. They resulted in a coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli security forces reported to civilian authorities. (An annex to this report covers human rights in the occupied territories. This report deals with human rights in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.)

Principal human rights problems were institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against Arab citizens, Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (see annex), non-Orthodox Jews, and other religious groups; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities; and societal discrimination and domestic violence against women, particularly in Bedouin society. While trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution decreased in recent years, trafficking for the purpose of labor remained a serious problem, as did abuse of foreign workers and societal discrimination and incitement against asylum seekers.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life

The government or its agents did not commit politically motivated killings.

The petitioners withdrew their appeal to the High Court against the closure of the inquiry by the Department for Investigations against Police Officers' (DIPO) into the 2008 beating and subsequent coma and death of Sabri al-Jarjawi, a Bedouin. Instead, they appealed to DIPO, which denied the petitioners' appeal to reopen the case.

At year's end, an internal Israel Prison Service (IPS) investigation continued into the 2007 killing of a Palestinian prisoner, Mohammed al-Askar, during a riot at Ketziot Prison. Prisoners alleged that security forces improperly used crowd-dispersal weapons, including rubber bullets and beanbag projectiles. The IPS investigation was on hold pending the outcome of legal proceedings in the Beer Sheva Magistrate Court regarding the cause of death.

On July 21, the Supreme Court doubled the manslaughter sentence imposed by a lower court on police officer Shahar Mizrahi to 30 months in prison. The lower court convicted Mizrahi in 2009 of manslaughter in the 2006 shooting death of Mahmoud Ghanayem, who had attacked Mizrahi with a screwdriver when he tried to apprehend Ghanayem for suspected car theft.

Terrorist groups routinely fired rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip into Israel. According to the government, terrorists fired approximately 235 rockets and mortar shells into the country from the Gaza Strip during the year, an increase from 195 in 2009. On March 19, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip killed a Thai citizen near the city of Ashkelon.

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Military Advocate General Mandelblit investigated all allegations relating to the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead military incursion into the Gaza Strip, examining over 150 incidents, including those contained in the UN Human Rights Council's 2009 Goldstone report. In January and July, Mandelblit released updates on the majority of investigations, which included details of indictments against several soldiers for manslaughter, improper use of civilians in wartime, and misconduct. As of July the military advocate general launched 47 military police criminal investigations into IDF conduct during Operation Cast Lead and completed a significant number of them (see annex). On August 1, the IDF issued a new order appointing humanitarian affairs officers to each battalion to provide further protections for civilian populations during wartime planning and combat operations.

During the year the Military Investigative Police launched 147 investigations with regard to cases of death, violence, and property damage against residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In these cases the military advocate general filed 10 indictments against 12 soldiers suspected of committing criminal offenses against Palestinians. There were three convictions of four soldiers, no acquittals, closure of three cases by the military advocate general, and seven cases pending as of year's end (see annex).

b. Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

A 1999 High Court of Justice ruling held that, although torture and the application of physical or psychological pain are illegal, Israel Security Agency (ISA) interrogators may be exempt from criminal prosecution if they use such methods in extraordinary cases determined to involve an imminent threat, or "ticking bomb" scenario.

During the year nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) filed numerous complaints alleging that security forces tortured or abused Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (see annex). On April 26, the Supreme Court rejected a July 2009 appeal by the NGO Public Committee against Torture in Israel alleging authorities use painful shackling during interrogations. The court noted the government's response that shackling was governed by strictly defined procedures and observed that the government had recently made several policy adjustments, including no longer shackling a detainee's hands behind the back.

On October 19, officers from the Ministry of Interior's Oz immigration unit allegedly beat and verbally abused with racial epithets five members of a black noncitizen family living in Ashkelon who had converted to Judaism and were awaiting a decision on their citizenship request. The immigration unit admitted detaining a family member in error but denied using physical force. The Ashkelon police department refused to allow the family to file a complaint against the officers.

On May 12, due to a police procedural error, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court canceled the indictment and postponed the trial of two Border Guard officers accused in November 2009 of assaulting Muhtaseb Muqtada, an Arab resident of Jerusalem. Officers Maor Malianker and Yossi Dahan allegedly beat Muqtada with a baton after asking for his identification. Malianker was also indicted on two other counts for allegedly using a radio device to hit a Jerusalem resident and falsely reporting he was attacked during a search.

The case of two border guards arrested by police in December 2009 for allegedly beating and stealing NIS 700 ($197) from a Sudanese man in Eilat remained pending at year's end at the Beer Sheva District Court.

The case of three police officers who reportedly detained and severely beat East Jerusalem resident Tareq Abu Laban in 2008 remained pending at year's end. In November 2009 evidentiary hearings began in the case following a DIPO investigation.

In October evidentiary hearings began at the Beer Sheva Magistrates' Court in the case of police officers Iyad Huzeyl and Dani Havery, who were indicted for assault involving grievous injury against Fadi Darab'i, an undocumented Palestinian laborer, in 2008 in the town of Gan Yavneh.

On June 13, a court acquitted three border police officers of charges of aggravated assault for physically abusing Abd Tareq Ahrub, a West Bank resident detained for being in Jerusalem without a permit in 2006.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

The law provides prisoners and detainees the right to conditions that do not harm their health or dignity. While various organizations found deficiencies, conditions in IPS facilities for common criminals and security prisoners generally met international standards according to international and domestic NGOs. (Conditions in four facilities for detainees are covered in the annex.)

According to news reports, a classified report in December by the Israel Bar Association (IBA) found that most of the prison service's isolation cells did not meet international standards. The reports stated the IBA study also described many isolated inmates' development of mental and physical health problems such as paranoia, fits of rage, and eyesight loss due to lack of natural light. The government acknowledged the need to improve conditions for Palestinian security prisoners in response to a 2008 IBA report on Sharon and Hadarim prisons that noted, among other points, poor health conditions in those facilities.

The annual report of the Public Defender's Office describing conditions in prisons and detention centers in 2008 found grave deficiencies in the infrastructure of most prison facilities and the living conditions in many of them. In response to the report's claim that convicts in one-third of the prisons visited complained of violent and humiliating treatment, the Warden's Investigation Unit within the National Police (which is independent of the IPS) found complaints to be unfounded.

According to a December 27 Haaretz article, there were on average 13 unnatural deaths (from suicide, murder, or neglect) in prisons over the past decade. At year's end both the police and the prison service were conducting separate investigations into the causes of the unnatural deaths that occurred during the year. According to news reports, the state comptroller began an investigation into prison suicides in 2009 to determine their causes.

On April 16, 27-year-old Raed Abu Hammad died while in solitary confinement in a prison in the southern part of the country. Hammad was halfway through a 10-year sentence for attempted murder and suffered from medical conditions. The prison service was investigating the death at year's end.

As of December 14, there were 5,935 Arab security prisoners and detainees, 1,438 Palestinian criminal prisoners, 3,903 Israeli Arab criminal prisoners, 17 Jewish Israeli security prisoners, and 6,462 Jewish criminal prisoners.

Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors, including through a program of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that brought relatives from the West Bank into the country for prison visits. The government stopped a similar program for visitors from the Gaza Strip following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007. In December 2009 the High Court ruled against a petition from prisoners' family members from the Gaza Strip, finding such visits did not constitute a humanitarian need. Travel restrictions into the country also affected Palestinian administrative prisoners' access to visitors and lawyers.

Prisoners were permitted religious observance.

The law allows prisoners to submit a petition to judicial authorities in response to substandard prison conditions, and the authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions and documented results of such investigations publicly.

The ICRC regularly monitored IPS facilities, interrogation facilities, and the two IDF provisional detention centers but did not monitor security detainees in military detention centers. The government also permitted the IBA and Public Defenders' Office to inspect IPS facilities, and they did so during the year.

The state comptroller serves as ombudsman and investigates public complaints received through the Public Complaints Commission against government ministries, local authorities, state enterprises and institutions, government corporations, and government employees. It functions as an effective mechanism for handling accusations of discrimination within government and public institutions, and it forwards complaints to the appropriate oversight bodies of nongovernmental entities that serve the public including banks and insurance companies. Any person may make a complaint regardless of citizenship, residency, or visa status.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these prohibitions for all citizens. Non-Israeli residents of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights were subject to the same laws as Israeli citizens. Noncitizens of Palestinian origin detained on security grounds fell under military jurisdiction even if detained in Israel (see annex).

Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

Under the authority of the prime minister, the ISA combats terrorism and espionage in the country and the occupied territories (see annex). The National Police, including the Border Police and the Immigration Police, are under the authority of the Ministry of Internal Security. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the ISA police forces, and the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during the year. The military is responsible for external security and has no jurisdiction over citizens.

DIPO investigates complaints against police officers and has the authority to indict or transfer cases for disciplinary trials. Continuing a plan to replace police with civil investigators, DIPO was staffed by 29 civil investigators and 19 police investigators at year's end.

The National Police carried out training programs in coordination with academic institutions and human rights NGOs to promote human rights awareness and cultural sensitivity. During the year the National Police also provided mandatory Arabic language and culture classes for all new cadets.

Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention

The law provides that an arrested citizen is considered innocent until proven guilty and has the right to be represented by an attorney. According to a report by the Public Defender's Office covering 2008-09, many persons arrested by police were informed of their right to consult an attorney only after they were questioned and transferred to a holding facility. Authorities allowed detainees to contact family members promptly. The government may withhold evidence from defense lawyers on security grounds; however, the evidence must be made available to the court. A bail system exists, and a decision denying bail can be appealed. As a general practice, noncitizens of Palestinian origin detained for security violations were not granted bail. An individual suspected of a criminal offense may be held without charge for 24 hours before being brought before a judge, with limited exceptions allowing for up to 48 hours. Authorities respected this right in practice.

Suspects in nonsecurity cases are apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and issued by an authorized official and generally were informed promptly of charges against them.

Persons detained on security grounds may fall under one or more of the three legal regimes. First, under a 2006 "temporary law" on criminal procedures that has been renewed three times, the IPS may hold individuals suspected of a security offense for 48 hours before being brought to a judge, with limited exceptions allowing up to 96 hours before being brought to the senior judge of a district court. The law allows the court to authorize holding a detainee for up to 20 days without an indictment in exceptional cases for interrogation. On February 11, the Supreme Court annulled a section of the temporary law that had barred access to a lawyer for up to 21 days and had enabled a court to impose further extensions without the detainee being present or informed of the hearing.

Second, the 1979 Emergency Powers Law allows the Defense Ministry to detain persons administratively without charge for up to six months, renewable indefinitely. Administrative detention was used as an exception when intelligence sources could not be presented as evidence in regular criminal proceedings. Such detainees, almost all of whom were Palestinian residents of the West Bank, were permitted legal representation within seven days, extendable to as long as 21 days in limited cases with the attorney general's approval. If necessary the government provided free legal representation. An administrative detainee has the right to appeal any decision to lengthen detention to a military court of appeals and ultimately to the Supreme Court. The military courts may rely on classified evidence denied to detainees and their lawyers when determining whether to prolong administrative detention.

At the end of the year, according to government figures reported by the NGO B'Tselem, there were 204 administrative detainees in IPS detention centers, including two minors. Most administrative detainees were held for less than one year, with 21 administrative detainees having been held consecutively for more than two years. Administrative detainees constituted 3.4 percent of the 5,954 security-related detainees.

Third, the 2002 Illegal Combatant Law permits holding a detainee for 14 days before review by a district court judge, denying access to counsel for up to 21 days with the attorney general's approval, and allowing indefinite detention subject to twice-yearly district court reviews and appeals to the Supreme Court. In 2008 the government extended for an additional four years a temporary provision that exempts law enforcement personnel from the law requiring them to film and audio record all interrogations of detainees suspected of security offenses. Amendments to the law in 2008 expanded its internment powers, which may be exercised in the event of "widespread hostilities," an occurrence that has not happened to date. At the end of November, authorities held three Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip in detention under the Illegal Combatant Law.

Human rights groups alleged military commanders in the occupied territories used administrative security detention orders based on "security reasons" even when the accused posed no clear danger. NGOs complained these laws removed the standard procedural safeguards from security suspects.

The law provides that foreign nationals suspected of immigration violations be afforded a hearing within four days of detention. They have the right to, but no assurance of, legal representation. According to the NGO Hotline for Migrant Workers (Hotline), interpreters in Ketziot, where most asylum seekers were detained, were rarely present during hearings despite a 2002 written commitment by the government to the Supreme Court to provide interpreters, and persons held in immigration detention rarely were released prior to judicial determination of their status. Moreover, if the detainee's country of origin had no diplomatic or consular representation, the individual could remain in detention for months.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the government respected this provision in practice.

The judicial branch comprises magistrate courts, six district courts, and the Supreme Court, which also sits as the High Court of Justice. Magistrate courts adjudicate misdemeanors and lesser civil disputes. District courts adjudicate felonies, serious civil cases, appeals from the magistrate courts, and several other largely administrative matters. There are also military, religious, labor relations, and administrative courts. The High Court of Justice exercises judicial review over the other branches of government and can exercise power on matters that are not within the jurisdiction of any other court or tribunal. The High Court of Justice is a court of first instance for claims against the government. Its members also sit as the Supreme Court and hear appeals of lower court rulings, Knesset elections, administrative detentions, prisoners' petitions, and rulings of the Civil Service Commission and bar association. Religious courts have jurisdiction over matters of personal status for their adherents; there are no civil courts for marriage or divorce for the hundreds of thousands of citizens for whom religious courts are not a legal option.

Trial Procedures

The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. However, administrative detainee hearings are not trials and do not follow trial procedures.

By law an arrested citizen is considered innocent until proven guilty. There are no trials by jury. Trials are public except when the court determines that a closed trial is required to protect state security, foreign relations, a party's or witness's right to privacy, or a sexual offense victim. At the discretion of the court, security or military trials may be open to independent observers but not to the general public. Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. All indigent defendants facing trial and imprisonment receive mandatory representation. According to the government, counsel represented all defendants in district and Supreme Court trials and in approximately 80 percent of cases in the magistrate courts.

Defendants have the right to question witnesses against them, present witnesses on their behalf, access evidence (except when the court determines such access would compromise state security), and appeal.

Military courts provide some, but not all, of the procedural rights granted in civil criminal courts. The 1970 evidentiary rules governing trials of Palestinians and others applicable in the occupied territories under military law are the same as evidentiary rules in criminal cases. According to the Ministry of Justice, the law does not permit convictions to be based solely on confessions. In military trials, prosecutors often present secret evidence that is not available to the defendant or counsel. Counsel may assist the accused in such trials, and a judge may assign counsel to defendants. Indigent detainees do not automatically receive free legal counsel for military trials, but in practice almost all detainees had counsel even in minor cases. The defendant and public are read the indictment in Hebrew and, unless the defendant waives this right, in Arabic. In past years, many indictments were translated into Arabic, but, since according to the government no requests for translations were made, the practice during the year was to provide written translations of indictments into Arabic only upon request. At least one interpreter is present for simultaneous interpretation in every military court hearing, unless the defendant waives that right. Defendants can appeal through the Military Court of Appeals and petition the High Court of Justice.

Political Prisoners and Detainees

There were no reports of citizen political prisoners or detainees, although NGOs alleged there were noncitizen political detainees (see annex).

Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies

An independent and impartial judiciary adjudicates lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights violations. Administrative remedies exist, and court orders were usually enforced. On February 7, former deputy attorney general Yehudit Karp sent a memo to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein listing 11 contempt of court ordinances and Supreme Court rulings that had not been implemented. On August 1, Attorney General Weinstein issued guidelines noting the need to implement court orders.

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

The law provides for protection of privacy of the individual and the home. In criminal cases, the law permits wiretapping under court order; in security cases, the Ministry of Defense must issue the order. Under emergency regulations, authorities may open and destroy mail on the basis of security considerations.

The law provides for police officers and other public investigators to request court orders to obtain personal information from private communications companies, including landline and cellular telephones and Internet service providers. To access private communications records, investigators must demonstrate that their goal is to save or preserve life, investigate or prevent crime, or seize property in accordance with the law.

Separate religious court systems adjudicate matters such as marriage and divorce for the Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze communities. Jews can marry only in Orthodox Jewish services, although the great majority of Jewish Israelis are not Orthodox. Civil marriages, marriages of some non-Orthodox Jews, marriages in non-Orthodox ceremonies, or marriage of a Jew to a non-Jew must take place outside the country to be legal. According to the NGO New Family Organization, more than 5,000 couples married in civil ceremonies abroad each year, mostly in Cyprus, and then registered in Israel's population register. The Rabbinical Court presides over divorces if it recognizes both spouses as Jewish; the Family Matters Court grants divorces in all cases outside of the religious tribunal's jurisdiction. The government allows consular marriages as long as both parties have no religion or belong to a religious community that the state does not recognize.

The law prohibits dismissing a worker who becomes pregnant who has worked at least six months for the same employer. However, the law also mandates that foreign workers leave the country no later than three months after giving birth; those who stay lose their legal status. In 2005 several NGOs appealed to the Supreme Court against this procedure; the appeal remained pending at year's end.

Many Jewish citizens objected to exclusive Orthodox rabbinic control over aspects of their personal lives. Approximately 310,000 citizens who immigrated, either as Jews or as family members of Jews, are not considered Jewish by the Orthodox Rabbinate. They cannot be married, divorced, or buried in Jewish cemeteries within the country. The estimated 20,000 Messianic Jews, who believe Jesus is the Messiah and consider themselves to be Jews, also often experienced this infringement on their personal lives, since the Orthodox Rabbinate did not consider them Jewish. A 1996 law requiring the government to establish civil cemeteries has not been fully implemented, although eight civil cemeteries exist.

The authority to grant status (citizenship and residency) to a non-Israeli spouse, including Palestinian and other non-Jewish foreign spouses, resides with the Ministry of Interior. On July 27, the Knesset extended for another year the temporary 2003 Citizenship and Entry Law, which prohibits a citizen's Palestinian spouse from the occupied territories not only from acquiring citizenship by marriage, but also from residing in the country. Palestinian male spouses who are 35 or older and female spouses who are 25 or older may apply for temporary visit permits. The Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel (Mossawa) claimed the law affected more than 21,000 families, including couples with long-standing marriages. The government originally enacted the law following 23 terrorist attacks involving suicide bombers from the occupied territories who had gained access to Israeli identification through family unification.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. Individuals may criticize the government publicly and privately without reprisal. The law prohibits hate speech and incitement to violence, and the 1948 Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance prohibits expressing support for illegal or terrorist organizations.

The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. The country has 13 daily newspapers, at least 90 weekly newspapers, more than 250 periodicals, and a number of Internet news sites. All newspapers were privately owned and managed. Laws dating from the British mandate require licenses from the Interior Ministry for newspapers and allow the minister, under certain conditions, to close a newspaper.

The state-owned Israel Broadcast Authority controls the Hebrew-language Israel Television and an Arabic-language channel, as well as Kol Israel (Voice of Israel) radio, which broadcasts news and other programming in Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages. The Second Television and Radio Authority, a public body, supervises the two privately owned commercial television channels and 14 privately owned radio stations.

The government prohibited all citizens, including journalists, from entering the Gaza Strip; those who entered were subject to legal penalties such as fines and restraining orders, but no journalists were fined during the year. All foreign journalists operating in the country require accreditation from the Government Press Office.

All media organizations must submit to military censors any material relating to specific military issues or strategic infrastructure issues, such as oil and water supplies. The censor's decisions may be appealed to the High Court of Justice, and the censor cannot appeal a court judgment. The Interior Ministry has no authority over the military censor.

News printed or broadcast abroad is subject to security censorship. The government did not fine newspapers or other mass media for violating censorship regulations during the year. On June 6, the Supreme Court commuted to community service a sentence of two months in prison and six-month suspended sentence imposed by a district court on journalists Khader Shaheen and Muhammad Sarhan for breaching the military censorship law during the Gaza Strip offensive. Police had charged the two men in January 2009 with divulging secret information and transmitting information to the enemy in wartime. The charges were filming and broadcasting live to Iran the IDF movements toward the Gaza Strip a half hour before the start of the ground offensive.

Internet Freedom

There were no government restrictions on Internet access. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail, although the government monitored cellular and landline telephones and Internet service providers for security purposes. The International Telecommunication Union reported that approximately 63 percent of the country's inhabitants were Internet users in 2009.

Academic Freedom and Cultural Events

There were no government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

Universities are required to justify to the IDF acceptance of Palestinian students from the occupied territories. According to revised government criteria submitted in response to a 2007 High Court of Justice order, no more than 70 students from the West Bank may pursue graduate studies in Israeli universities at any given time, provided there is no practical alternative and the chosen program is not in a field that could provide knowledge or skills that could be employed to harm the country. Students from the Gaza Strip are not eligible to apply (see annex).

b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Freedom of Assembly

The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the government generally respected this right in practice.

Throughout the year weekly protests in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah took place against the implementation of court decisions regarding property ownership. On January 15, police arrested 17 activists, including Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) Executive Director Hagai El-Ad, when they held a protest after being denied a permit. Two days later the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered the protesters released and ruled that the police could not require a permit for the protests.

Police have the authority to declare protests illegal and disperse them to uphold public safety. On November 17, police in Tel Aviv allowed a peaceful demonstration of students protesting a bill providing stipends solely to yeshiva students but declared the gathering illegal following protesters' use of smoke grenades and attempts to disrupt traffic. The students then violently clashed with police, resulting in 12 injured students.

At year's end, a DIPO investigation continued into a complaint by NGOs Adalah and the Arab Association of Human Rights concerning police behavior during clashes with 15,000 Arab-Israeli demonstrators in 2008 in the former Arab village of Safouriya, now a Jewish community. There were conflicting claims about responsibility for violence during the "Nakba" (catastrophe in Arabic) demonstration that marked the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. Adalah released video footage that reportedly showed police beating or kicking some demonstrators in the head and face as they sat handcuffed on the ground. According to press and NGO reports, police attacked several local and international journalists, including a CNN correspondent, and in some cases confiscated cameras and erased footage.

Freedom of Association

The law provides for the right of association, and the government generally respected this right in practice.

Under the 1980 Law of Associations, NGOs must register and pay annual fees. Some registered NGOs were eligible to receive funding from government ministries. According to government figures, such funding amounted to approximately NIS 2.5 billion ($703 million) per year. Government funding for NGOs disproportionately favored Jewish NGOs, especially those that promote "traditional and religious Jewish activities."

c. Freedom of Religion

For a complete description of religious freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report: Israel.

d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons

The law provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government respected them in practice for citizens (see annex). The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to some refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons of concern.

Citizens generally were free to travel abroad and to emigrate, provided they had no outstanding military obligations and no administrative restrictions. The government may bar citizens from leaving the country based on security considerations. In addition no citizen is permitted to travel to any state officially at war with the country without government permission. All citizens required a special permit to enter area A (the area, according to the Interim Agreement, in which the Palestinian Authority exercises civil and security responsibility), although the government allowed Arab citizens some access without permits. Arab citizens regularly complained of discrimination and degrading treatment by airport security officials. A Supreme Court decision in a 2007 petition by ACRI and Adalah regarding alleged ethnic profiling was still pending at year's end. The court postponed a December hearing on the government's comparative legal analysis of its security screening methods.

The law prohibits forced exile of citizens, and the government respected this prohibition in practice.

Protection of Refugees

The government has not enacted legislation implementing the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. NGOs criticized new asylum regulations released on December 13 that require applicants to submit claims within one year of arriving in the country; authorize the Ministry of Interior to reject applications without appeal even at the registration stage; and, in various accelerated procedures, exclude "enemy nationals" from receiving asylum in the country; and lack an independent appeal process. The government arrested a number of persons immediately following rejection of their refugee status claims, causing a decrease in new applications. A number of formal and informal arrangements provide for the protection of some asylum seekers.

The Interior Ministry's Authority for Immigration and Border Crossings implements government policy and is responsible for foreign nationals and population issues. The authority consolidates all relevant bodies dealing with immigration issues, including asylum seekers. In July 2009 the government assumed from the UNHCR the process of registering and conducting determinations of refugee status for all asylum seekers; however, domestic NGOs argued that the new regulations and procedures for the registration and status determination of asylum seekers were flawed. According to the Tel Aviv University Refugee Rights Law Clinic, the government failed to provide asylum seekers copies of their interview transcripts or sufficient explanations of their determinations. After an appeal by the Refugee Rights Law Clinic and other NGOs, the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction mandating that asylum seekers be accompanied by legal representatives in interviews, but the government continued to bar paralegals, and most asylum seekers could not afford counsel for hearings.

The National Status Granting Board (NSGB), composed of four members from the ministries of interior, justice, and foreign affairs, processes asylum applications. It makes a recommendation that is sent to the minister of interior for final approval. Between 2008 and 2009, the NSGB reportedly reviewed 3,211 cases and provided positive recommendations in three. The UNHCR participated informally in NSGB sessions.

The government issued three-month "conditional release visas" for asylum seekers waiting for a decision from the NSGB and Sudanese and Eritreans who were not reviewed for refugee status. The visa did not provide for the right to work or social benefits such as health insurance or housing subsidies, but in practice the government generally allowed refugees to work. The government generally gave Eritreans and Sudanese, who constituted the majority of asylum seekers, conditional release visas with deferred deportation status and temporary protection, and it did not require or allow them to undergo refugee status determinations. Asylum seekers of other nationalities must report to the Ministry of Interior's Refugee Status Unit for determination of their refugee claim.

On November 17, the Ministry of Interior instituted a new procedure of marking conditional release visas "this is not a work visa." The new procedure led to many asylum seekers being fired, according to NGOs. In August, following a government decision to enforce a prohibition on employment, the Refugee Rights Law Clinic petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of eight human rights organizations, asking the government to clarify the right to work for asylum seekers and persons who are provided deferred deportation status. The case was pending at year's end.

Refugees recommended by the UNHCR or the Ministry of Interior and recognized by the NSGB received six-month renewable visas, with status evaluated after one year. Asylum seekers at the appeal stage were not provided with this visa but were protected from detention and deportation by the letter informing them of the rejection of their claim.

No legal option exists for a refugee to become a naturalized citizen. In 2009 the Refugee Rights Law Clinic petitioned the Jerusalem Administrative Court on behalf of an Ethiopian refugee who had been in the country as a recognized refugee for more than 10 years. The petitioners argued that under the 1951 Refugee Convention, a state is obliged to facilitate the naturalization of refugees. The case was pending at year's end.

In 2009 the Ministry of Interior opened an office in Lod for asylum seekers to register to receive documents allowing legal residence without which they would be subject to arrest. The NGO Hotline reported that many refugees and asylum seekers complained about discriminatory treatment, inefficiency, refusal to renew papers, and lost documents at the Lod office, but noted some improvements in operation during the year.

In practice the government provided some protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom could be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. At year's end the Supreme Court had not ruled on the question put to it in 2007 of whether it was safe to return asylum seekers to Egypt. Domestic and international NGOs and the UNHCR continued to be concerned with the practice of "coordinated returns" or "hot returns" of some asylum seekers to Egypt because of allegations that those individuals were later returned to their countries of origin in violation of their right to seek asylum and protection against such return. The government stated that through October 10, it had summarily returned to Egypt 136 persons who had crossed the country's border. This was a decrease from 517 persons who returned to Egypt after crossing the border in 2008-09. In its petition Hotline submitted to the Supreme Court the testimony of an IDF soldier describing alleged incidents of "hot returns" he had witnessed at the Egyptian border. According to the testimony, while officially Egypt refused to accept asylum seekers returned to its territory, there was a field-level understanding between the border forces that the Egyptians would receive persons captured at the border or soon after crossing. NGOs asserted that these arrangements were temporary conditional agreements between Egyptian and Israeli border commands and not a uniform policy.

The government did not grant asylum to persons from states with which it was officially at war, such as Iraq, but stated that it attempted to find a third country to accept them. Sudanese, while also originating from an "enemy state," in practice received conditional release visas. On December 13, the government, with NGO assistance, carried out a voluntary return to Sudan of 150 refugees residing in the country.

Refugees and asylum seekers were targets of violence. On December 18, an unknown arsonist threw a burning tire at the apartment door of five Sudanese refugees in Ashdod, setting the apartment on fire. The Sudanese refugees escaped by breaking through the barred glass window and were treated for smoke inhalation. Local residents and storeowners claimed they were attacked because they were refugees from Sudan. Ashdod police began an investigation that continued at year's end.

Also on December 18, a group of approximately 20 teenagers severely beat three 16-year-old daughters of African asylum seekers in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv. The victims reportedly did not file a police report because they feared retribution.

Rhetoric by government officials and community protests concerning asylum seekers also intensified during the year. On March 22, Knesset member Yaakov Katz issued a letter that called for the establishment of an "infiltrator" city to hold asylum seekers and stated that in 10 years the "infiltrators" could "ruin" the country. On July 19, Minister of Interior Eli Yishai called for IDF soldiers to "block infiltrators" coming from the southern part of the country and stated, "This is an existential threat to the State of Israel." On September 2, Minister of Justice Yaakov Neeman stated that the "infiltrators at the southern border create a real danger to the existence of the state of Israel, and Israel has to fight this phenomenon in every possible way." In July the mayor of Eilat called on city residents to demonstrate against the large community of "infiltrators" who had taken over the city, created a climate of fear, and lowered real estate value. Candidates for the October Eilat municipality elections also used anti-asylee campaigns as part of their platforms.

The government did not grant temporary status to persons with disputed nationalities, and prolonged detention of some of these persons continued throughout the year. According to Hotline and IPS, at year's end the government was holding at least 1,000 asylum seekers for longer than 60 days in violation of the Entry of Israel Law. In addition authorities detained over 200 women and children in the Saaronim prison in cloth tents, with limited education services provided to the children for the detention period and insufficient health and medical treatment, according to NGOs. While authorities allowed the UNHCR full access to asylum seekers and refugees in detention, authorities curtailed access by NGOs to Saaronim prison following a 2008 petition by Hotline charging the IPS with inhumane treatment of prisoners. Hotline and a private law firm challenged the legality of several detention cases. In some decisions the district court ordered the release of asylum seekers with disputed nationalities and criticized the prolonged detention. According to an August 13 report in Haaretz, 17 appeals were filed in the district court with regard to detention of refugees, and all of the asylum seekers were released. The UNHCR noted the country does not provide an adequate appeals procedure for asylum seekers, and many persons with disputed nationality remain in prison for long periods of time if their country of origin cannot be confirmed by the Ministry of Interior.

According to the African Refugee Development Center, dozens of pregnant asylum seekers and single mothers were referred to the organization by authorities upon their release from prisons in the country. Despite many of them having been the victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Sinai and some allegedly having been held for ransom and forced labor there, the government did not provide health insurance, pregnancy or postnatal related services, or trauma counseling to these women, according to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. Authorities sent some female victims of trafficking in persons to government shelters during the year, but many others were not properly identified in prison as having been trafficking victims.

For a monthly fee of NIS 185 ($52), health services were provided for minors who stayed continuously in the country for a period of six months and were not insured by the National Health Insurance Law. Those services do not apply to previous health conditions or to children of parents who are residents of the Palestinian territories. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) estimated that one-third of families with children who are not legal residents were able to purchase medical insurance. Although the law provides for emergency medical care for every resident, 16 migrant workers and asylum seekers reportedly stated that they were denied access to emergency medical treatment in hospitals between September 2009 and September due to lack of health insurance and inability to pay the required fees.

By law the government should provide education to all children living in the country, regardless of their status in the Ministry of Interior's population registry. NGO and media reports cited instances in which children of asylum seekers allegedly were not provided access to the country's educational system due to decisions by local school and government officials. For example, according to Hotline, children of asylum seekers in Eilat were not accepted into the local school system during the year.

Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government

The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

Elections and Political Participation

The country is a parliamentary democracy with an active multiparty system. Relatively small parties, including those primarily supported by Arab-Israelis, regularly win Knesset seats. The law requires that a party obtain 2 percent of the vote to win Knesset seats. In 2008 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned after declining to run in a Kadima Party primary election. When Kadima Party head Tzipi Livni was unable to form a government, Olmert remained as caretaker prime minister until a government was formed following February 2009 elections that were considered free and fair. In March 2009 following protracted negotiations, Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister of a Likud-led coalition government.

The Basic Law prohibits the candidacy of any party or individual that denies the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people or the democratic character of the state, or that incites racism. Otherwise political parties operated without restriction or interference. In January 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a Central Elections Committee decision to ban the Knesset's two Arab political parties, the United Arab List-Ta'al and Balad, from participating in the February 2009 elections on the grounds that they did not recognize the state and called for armed conflict against it.

At year's end the Knesset had 23 female and 14 Arab members. The 30-member cabinet included two women, but no Arabs; three women were deputy ministers. Five members of the 15-member Supreme Court, including its president, were women. One Arab was on the Supreme Court.

Section 4 Official Corruption and Government Transparency

The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and the government implemented the law effectively. There were reports of government corruption during the year, although impunity was not a problem. Media routinely reported on corruption. The National Police, the state comptroller, the attorney general, and the accountant general were responsible for combating official corruption. Senior officials were subject to comprehensive financial disclosure laws.

During the year the government investigated and prosecuted several senior political figures for alleged misconduct.

On July 13, a court found Knesset Member and former minister of justice Tzachi Hanegbi guilty of perjury in a case related to political appointments. In November the judges ruled that the perjury involved "moral turpitude," thereby forcing him to leave the Knesset immediately; he was also assessed a fine of NIS 10,000 ($2,813).

In September the minister of defense appointed an IDF ombudsman to investigate allegations of corruption surrounding IDF appointment processes, widely known as the "Galant Document" affair.

On December 30, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted former president Moshe Katsav of rape and obstruction of justice, as well as of sexual assault and sexual harassment of three government employees in 2006.

On May 24, police recommended indicting Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for breach of trust based on evidence that he received classified information about an ongoing corruption investigation against him. The attorney general did not decide whether to issue an indictment by year's end. In August 2009 police recommended the attorney general indict Lieberman on bribery, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and other charges. The attorney general had yet to make a decision at year's end.

On April 14, police arrested former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski on suspicion of accepting NIS three million ($844,000) in bribes. On August 23, the police recommended indicting him and a list of individuals for taking a bribe, bribery mediating, and breach of trust in connection with Jerusalem's Holyland residential construction project. The list included former prime minister Ehud Olmert for receiving a bribe while he was mayor of Jerusalem; Bank HaPoalim Directorate Chairman Danny Dankner for bribery and tax offenses; former Israel Land Administration head Yaakov Efrati for fraud and breach of trust; former deputy mayor Yehoshua Polak for bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and tax offenses; Holyland developer Hillel Cherney; and Olmert's former bureau chief, Shula Zaken. At year's end state prosecutors had yet to decide whether to indict those whom the police recommended.

In August 2009 Attorney General Menachem Mazuz indicted former prime minister Olmert along with his former chief of staff Zaken on three charges involving breach of trust, falsifying corporate documents, and fraudulent conduct. Mazuz also charged Olmert with tax evasion and Zaken with illegal eavesdropping. Olmert and Zaken both pled not guilty to all charges. At year's end the investigation regarding Olmert's political appointments was completed and notification letters were sent to the suspects, but a hearing had not been scheduled. An additional six persons were indicted on related charges, including former tax authority chief Jacky Matza, three tax authority officials, and two businessmen.

The government did not effectively implement its 1998 Freedom of Information Law. Many government bodies did not disclose their internal regulations as required, and others failed to publish annual reports. The 2008 state comptroller's report found that approximately half of governmental authorities did not make available to the public their administrative directives or procedures for requesting information or services.

On January 13, the High Court of Justice dismissed ACRI's 2005 freedom of information petition to require the government to provide timely public access to the ministries' unclassified archives. The court awarded legal expenses to ACRI, however, as it found the government had adjusted its policies in the interim in response to the petition. In August the government published the new archives' regulations shortening the limitation periods on archival materials and ensuring their public availability.

Section 5 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

Numerous domestic and international human rights groups operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Human rights NGOs have standing to petition the Supreme Court directly regarding governmental policies and can appeal individual cases to the Supreme Court. Government officials were cooperative to varying degrees, and routinely invited domestic NGOs, including those critical of the government, such as ACRI, Mossawa, Adalah, the PHR-I, and Gisha, among others, to participate in Knesset hearings on proposed legislation. A unit in the foreign ministry maintained relations with certain international and domestic NGOs. The government responded publicly to criticisms that it believed to be unfounded.

The state comptroller also served as ombudsman for human rights issues. The ombudsman investigates complaints against statutory bodies that are subject to audit by the state comptroller, including government ministries, local authorities, state enterprises and institutions, government corporations, and their employees. The ombudsman is entitled to use any relevant means of inquiry and has the capacity to order any person or body to assist in the inquiry.

During the year the Ministry of Interior, operating under a 2002 order, barred entry to foreign nationals affiliated with certain Palestinian human rights NGOs and solidarity organizations (see annex). The government stated this was done on an individual basis, not according to the activities or platform of the NGOs with which they were affiliated.

On September 22, the UN Human Rights Council released the report of a fact-finding mission that accused security forces of summarily executing six of the nine passengers killed on a Turkish NGO-organized flotilla of ships intending to reach the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Netanyahu's office dismissed the report as "biased" and "distorted." On July 12, the IDF investigation into the May 31 events concluded that the use of live fire was justified, although it criticized organizational and intelligence failures for not being prepared for the level of violence committed by some of the flotilla's passengers. The Turkel Commission, appointed by the government on June 14 as an independent public commission of inquiry with international observers, concluded that the blockade was legally imposed and enforced according to international law; it found no instance of excessive use of force.

On November 22, the UN Children's Fund criticized the government for not having a comprehensive strategy to protect the rights of children and for excluding the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from the application of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The government made several policy changes in response to criticism from NGOs and international organizations, including the UN Goldstone Report, regarding the protection of human rights during the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead incursion into the Gaza Strip. Following IDF investigations, changes included new limitations on the use of white phosphorus in urban settings; the introduction of population assistance officers into combat brigades and battalions to focus on minimizing civilian casualties and hardship; new written procedures for planners to provide for civilian safe havens, evacuation routes, medical treatment, and humanitarian access; and new written policies governing the destruction of private property and civilian infrastructure.

During the year the government introduced several programs to spur economic development in Arab towns and to encourage greater hiring of minorities. On March 21, the government allocated NIS 778 million ($219 million) for the economic development of 13 Arab towns to raise employment, improve transportation, encourage housing development, and improve security and law enforcement.

Section 6 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons

The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, marital status, political beliefs, disability, or age, and the government effectively enforced these prohibitions.

Women

Rape, including spousal rape, is a felony, punishable by 16 years in prison. The law doubles the penalty if the perpetrator assaults or rapes a relative. The government reported 727 cases opened due to rape complaints through October. The government effectively enforced rape laws during the year.

On December 30, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted former president Moshe Katzav of two counts of rape (see section 4).

NGOs supporting victims of sexual abuse reported a 13 percent rise in requests for assistance during the first half of the year in comparison with the same period in 2009. The NGOs reportedly received 4,250 requests for assistance. More than 40 percent of applicants said they were victims of rape or attempted rape, and two-thirds said they were sexually assaulted before the age of 18. The law prohibits violence against women, but domestic violence against women was a problem. As of September women filed 11,123 domestic violence complaints with police, of which at year's end 2,688 were still being investigated, 4,364 were transferred to the State Attorney's Office, 340 were heard by courts, and 3,741 were closed.

The Ministry of Social Affairs operated a battered women's shelter and an abuse reporting hotline. The police operated a call center to inform victims about their cases. Women's organizations provided counseling, crisis intervention, legal assistance, and shelters.

Women's rights NGO Kayan Feminist Organization (Kayan) and PHR-I petitioned the Supreme Court to require the Ministry of Health to provide health care to battered women living in shelters and to those who were without legal status in the country. The case was still pending at year's end.

Several "honor killings" occurred within the Arab-Israeli community. On October 20, police arrested Ramadan and Khaled Musrati on suspicion of involvement in four "honor killings" in Lod. The victims were alleged to be two men and two women believed to be in relationships with each other that their families viewed as inappropriate.

Sexual harassment is illegal but remains widespread. The law requires that suspected victims be informed of their right to assistance. Penalties for sexual harassment depend on the severity of the act and whether blackmail is involved; range from two to nine years' imprisonment.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Industry published in June, 35 to 40 percent of women reported experiencing sexual harassment at work, one-third of whom experienced it in the previous 12 months. Among the women who reported harassment, 69 percent said they had received "proposals," 47 percent reported comments of a sexual nature, 22 percent cited physical violation, 10 percent reported humiliation, and 7.7 percent reported extortion and threats.

In November DIPO opened an investigation into allegations by a Public Security Ministry employee that police commander Uri Bar-Lev sexually harassed her. The investigation continued at year's end.

"Modesty patrols" continued to harass women in Haredi neighborhoods. An article in Yediot Ahronot on March 3 reported that police arrested two Haredi men at the Western Wall compound on suspicion that they threw chairs at a group of praying women from the Woman of the Wall organization, a group occasionally targeted by religious groups for exercising their religion at holy sites.

In March 2009 the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Elhanan Buzaglo to four years' imprisonment and required him to pay NIS 10,000 ($2,813) in compensation to a woman who had divorced her husband and abandoned her religious way of life. Buzaglo and four other persons beat the woman at her home and threatened to kill her if she did not move out of the house.

Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, spacing, and timing of children, and had the information and means to do so free from discrimination. Access to information on contraception and skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care was widely available, although women in Haredi communities often had to seek approval from a rabbi to use contraception. According to data from the UN Population Fund for 2008, the maternal mortality rate in the country was seven per 100,000 births. Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

In the secular judicial system, women and men enjoyed the same rights, but religious courts restricted the rights of Jewish and Muslim women. A Jewish woman is allowed to initiate divorce proceedings, but her husband must give his consent to make the divorce final. Because some men disappear or refuse to grant the divorce, thousands of so-called "agunot" (chained women) may not remarry or give birth to legitimate children. Rabbinical tribunals may, and sometimes did, sanction a husband who refused divorce but still did not grant a divorce without his consent.

A Muslim woman may petition for and receive a divorce through the Sharia courts without her husband's consent under certain conditions, and a marriage contract may provide for other circumstances in which she may obtain a divorce without her husband's consent. A Muslim man may divorce his wife without her consent and without petitioning the court.

Christians may seek official separations or divorces, depending on the denomination, through ecclesiastical courts. During the year Kayan criticized the Episcopal Ecclesiastical Court in Nazareth, which is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, for lack of transparency, unnecessary delays, and a judge's refusal to rule in an alimony case.

On September 28, the Supreme Court outlawed public gender segregation in Jerusalem's Haredi Mea Shearim neighborhood, in response to a petition submitted by NGOs and a Knesset Member asking the court to prevent enforcement of gender separation after conservative men physically and verbally assaulted women for walking on a designated men's only road. Dozens of women protested on September 29 to demand immediate enforcement of the court decision.

According to its Web site, the Yad L'Achim's antiassimilation department receives approximately 1,000 calls per year identifying Jewish women who become involved with foreign workers or Arab men. Yad L'Achim responded in some cases by what it termed "launching military-like rescues from hostile Arab villages and setting the women up in 'safe' houses around the country, where they could build new lives for themselves." A December 2009 "rescue" from the Gaza Strip of Oshrit Ohana and her four children, reportedly coordinated with the IDF and Interior Minister Eli Yishai, was widely popular among the public, but critics claimed such "rescues" sometimes disregarded the will of the women involved.

Although the law prohibits discrimination based on gender in employment and wages and provides for class action suits, complaints of significant wage disparities between men and women persisted.

A May 2009 Yediot Ahronot article described a new regulation in the ultra-Orthodox Shas' Maayan Torah education network that prohibits female workers from working without a head covering that completely covers their hair. Many Haredi women expressed disagreement with the new regulation that also bans the use of wigs as head coverings.

The government enacted a number of programs to improve the status of women in the work place and society. The Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women in the Prime Minister's Office approved 289 scholarships for higher education for Druze, Bedouin, and Circassian female students in the north. The authority held professional training courses in Arab, Druze, and Circassian localities.

Children

Citizenship is derived by birth within or outside of the country to at least one citizen parent.

On August 1, the cabinet established guidelines mandating that children of foreign workers may remain in the country with their parents only if they meet the following five criteria: the child studied the preceding year in the state school system; the child is enrolled for the current school year in the first grade or higher; the child has lived for at least five consecutive years in the country; the child's parents entered the country on a valid visa; and the child speaks Hebrew. According to government statistics released in August, 20,000 children of foreign workers were residing in the country illegally during the year, 6,000 under the age of five. The Ministry of Interior threatened to deport hundreds of children who did not meet the established criteria, and some deportations began during the year. The government ensured at least one parent was deported with a child.

Education is compulsory through the ninth grade. The government operated separate school systems for Hebrew-speaking children, Arabic-speaking children, and Orthodox Jews. Ultra-Orthodox Haredi political parties continued to oppose government regulation of their government-funded school systems. Large Haredi demonstrations were held in Jerusalem throughout the year following the Supreme Court's August 2009 ruling that outlawed discrimination between Ashkenazi and Sephardic students in a religious girls' school in the Emmanuel Settlement.

According to a National Council of the Child (NCC) report, in 2009 hospitals and clinics identified 2,907 children who had suffered violence within the family and sexual abuse, in comparison with 1,989 in 2000, a rise of 46 percent.

The NCC received more than 10,000 complaints during the year covering issues of physical and sexual abuse of children, child pornography, and poor educational, health, and welfare services.

According to the Ministry of Welfare, there were many cases of children with disabilities who were sexually assaulted that awaited investigation during the year.

The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on international parental child abduction, please see the Department of State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport_4308.html

Trafficking in Persons

For information on trafficking in persons, please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/.

Persons with Disabilities

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other state services. Legislation mandates access to buildings and transportation, as well as accommodations for persons with disabilities in services and the work place. The government enforced the laws with limited success but did not formulate specific regulations. Societal discrimination and lack of accessibility persisted in employment and housing. Television channels include subtitles or sign language, and the courts accommodate testimony from persons with intellectual disabilities or mental illness. The law mandates accessibility to urban public transportation, but not interurban buses; as of September 2009, approximately 40 percent of buses did not have such access. Most train stations maintained access for persons with disabilities.

There are an estimated 120,000 to 160,000 persons with severe mental illness, and very few receive rehabilitation services, according to research published by the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute.

Various ministries and agencies maintained responsibility for persons with disabilities. The Commission for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities within the Ministry of Justice is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. It receives public inquiries, provides legal advice, represents clients, and educates and promotes best practices. It took legal action in the areas of accessibility and employment, and issued regulations to provide access to services and public sites. However, improvements were slow, according to Bizchut, a domestic NGO that advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities. On December 20, the commission released a report which stated that, of approximately 1.5 million citizens who consider themselves disabled, 43 percent of those with severe disabilities and 29 percent with moderate disabilities went without food at some stage over the past year, while more than one-third of those with severe disabilities and 23 percent with moderate disabilities could not afford essential medicine during at least one period in the year. In addition according to the report, 60 percent of persons with severe disabilities and nearly half of those with moderate disabilities could not afford heat, and 41 percent had their phone disconnected in the reporting period.

During the year Bizchut's public inquiries hotline received 2,400 calls from individuals alleging that their rights had been violated due to their disability. The main complaints focused on national insurance, education, housing, hospitalization, and legal assistance.

In response to a petition to the Supreme Court submitted by NGOs including Bizchut, the Ministry of Education began a pilot program in one town to award each child with special needs a personal education budget. Bizchut continued to claim throughout the year that the education system did not provide adequate support to children with special needs.

The Division for Integrating Persons with Disabilities in the Labor Market within the Ministry of Industry examines and promotes employment for persons with disabilities. In August 2009 an amendment to the National Insurance Law came into effect that allows persons who receive a disability pension to earn more by permitting a combination of income and pension, rather than requiring the total forfeiture of the disability pension.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services provides out-of-home placement and sheltered employment for persons with cognitive, physical, and communication disabilities. It also handles criminal investigations involving persons with certain disabilities, either victims or offenders, when police request assistance.

The National Insurance Agency provides financial benefits and stipends, the Ministry of Health provides mental health and rehabilitation services, and the Ministry of Education provides special education services. However, Bizchut continued to criticize the lack of services provided in practice to mainstreamed pupils, which effectively limited their integration into regular class settings.

An article in Yediot Ahronot on July 25 described a new IDF program to allow persons with disabilities to complete basic army training; 19 persons graduated from an initial course held in July.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Citizens of Arab origin and Palestinian residents of the West Bank and East Jerusalem living in the country faced discrimination in public and private life. Tensions between Arabs and Jews were high in areas where the two communities overlap, such as Jerusalem, the Galilee, and Negev, and in some cities with historically separate Jewish and Arab neighborhoods.

On November 5, according to police and victim reports, a group of eight teenagers severely beat a Chilean tourist in downtown Jerusalem after mistaking him for an Arab. Police arrested the suspects on charges of committing an attack causing grave bodily harm.

On December 21, police arrested a group of nine Jewish teenagers suspected of perpetrating a series of violent attacks against Arab youths in Jerusalem during November and December. In one case the group allegedly began beating a victim, asked for his identity card to determine whether he was Arab, and then continued beating him after the card showed that he was.

In November Arab students in Safed reported experiencing anonymous harassment including telephone calls threatening to set their apartment on fire and one of their cars being spray painted, "Arabs out." The students also alleged that a local rabbi asked them to leave the town and return to an Arab country, because "Safed should be Jewish."

In December dozens of rabbis signed a letter urging Jewish owners of apartments not to rent their properties to Arabs, claiming it would deflate the value of their homes as well as those in the neighborhood. The rabbis also urged neighbors of anyone renting or selling property to Arabs to caution that individual and to inform the general public. A subsequent letter signed by 30 rabbis' wives urged Jewish women not to work, date, or do community service with non-Jews. Numerous government officials and senior rabbinic authorities expressed concern that the letters were encouraging racism in the Jewish population.

At year's end a trial continued against Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, a Jewish settler in the West Bank who was indicted in 2009 for crimes including the 1997 killings of Palestinian shepherd Issa Jabrin near Hebron and Samir Akram Balbisi, an Arab taxi driver in Jerusalem, and the 2008 bombing deaths of professor Ze'ev Sternhell and a Messianic Jewish leader's 15-year-old son, Ami Ortiz. On August 30, the Jerusalem District Court ruled he was fit to stand trial.

On January 6, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted Eliyahu Aharoni of conspiracy to commit arson with a racist motive and for illegally producing and carrying incendiary bombs. In 2008 police arrested him and five other young Jewish men in Tel Aviv for allegedly firebombing three Arab apartments in a Jewish neighborhood. The other five were not indicted due to lack of evidence.

Arab and other minority residents of the country faced official and societal discrimination in a number of areas, including employment, education, land ownership, and naturalization.

The law exempts Arab citizens, except for members of the Druze religion, from mandatory military service, but some serve voluntarily. Citizens who do not perform military service enjoy fewer social and economic benefits. Arab citizens generally were ineligible to work in companies with defense contracts or in security-related fields if they did not serve in the military. The government managed a National Civil Service program for citizens not drafted for military service, giving Arab citizens, Haredi Jews, Orthodox Jewish women, and others the opportunity to provide public service in their own communities and thus be eligible for the same benefits accorded military veterans. Of the 12,000 volunteers during the 2009-10 academic year, 1,256 were Arab citizens, half of whom served in education, 22 percent in health, 16 percent in welfare, and the remainder in legal and environmental work and road accident prevention. Ninety percent of the Arab volunteers were women.

The law requires that minorities have "appropriate representation" in the civil service and on the boards of government-owned corporations, but Arab citizens were underrepresented in most fields of employment, including the government. According to data as of June reported by the Committee for the Examination of Appointments, which works to provide for appropriate representation, 39 out of the 98 governmental corporations satisfied the requirement, and 18 others were exempt. One percent of government company employees were Arab, Druze, or Circassian; these groups formed about 20 percent of the overall population. An affirmative action program undertaken to promote the hiring of Arabs, Druze, and Circassians in the civil service has slightly increased their representation each year. According to the government, 6.97 percent of government employees in 2009 were Arab, Druze, or Circassian, compared with 6.17 percent in 2007.

Resources devoted to the education of Arab children were inferior to those devoted to Jewish children in the public education system. In January the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated that public spending for children in Arab localities was at least one-third lower than for children in Jewish municipalities. There were on average 25 Jewish schoolchildren per classroom, while Arab children averaged 29 per classroom.

According to the NGO Pedagogic Council for Arab Education, disparities in education between Jewish and Arab students limit Arab students' access to higher education. According to the NGO Dirasat, Arab-Israelis composed just 10.6 percent of all university undergraduate students and less than 1 percent of all tenured professors. Of 4,012 tenured university professors, 38 were Arab (34 men and four women).

Approximately 93 percent of land was in the public domain, including approximately 12.5 percent owned by the NGO Jewish National Fund (JNF), whose statutes prohibit sale or lease of land to non-Jews. According to a 2005 attorney general ruling, the government cannot discriminate against Arab citizens in marketing and allocating lands it manages, including those of the JNF. As an interim measure, the government agreed to compensate the JNF for any land it leased to an Arab by transferring an equal amount of land from the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) to the JNF. Legal petitions against the JNF policy of leasing public land only to Jews were ongoing at year's end. The NGO Israel Land Fund continued its program to purchase Arab land throughout the country and market it to Jewish buyers, including in the diaspora; the organization claimed that all the land belonged to Jewish people and described as a "danger" the purchase of Jewish-owned lands by non-Jews.

On November 8, the Supreme Court rejected a petition by Arab residents in Jaffa arguing that the ILA illegally leased public land to an organization that will market new apartments built on the land exclusively to Jewish citizens. The court stated that ILA is obligated to prevent discrimination, but it denied the petition because the land rights had already been sold.

New construction is illegal in towns that do not have an authorized outline plan for development, which is the legal responsibility of local authorities. At year's end according to the government, 41 of the country's 128 Arab communities had fully approved planning schemes, 28 were awaiting approvals from district or national planning committees, 35 had outline plans in the final stages of the localities' approval process, nine began developing their outline plans, and 15 were still working towards creating master plans. However, Arab advocacy organizations continued to challenge the demolition of illegal buildings in the Arab sector by claiming that the government unfairly restricted building permits and rezoned open space areas to exclude Arabs from expanding built-up areas. In the country's 46 unrecognized Bedouin "villages" constructed haphazardly on state land in the Negev claimed by various tribes, all buildings were illegal since there were no recognized local authorities to promote an authorized detailed plan. Approximately 60,000 Bedouin resided in such unrecognized villages, while more than 120,000 lived in legally planned and constructed urban and suburban centers.

On July 27, the police demolished the 45 structures of the unrecognized Bedouin "village" of al-Arakib, which had been built illegally on state land, after multiple eviction orders and a 2007 Supreme Court decision. For decades the state had leased the area to Bedouins for agriculture, but in 1998 the el Tory tribe moved from Rahat and attempted to settle on the land they claimed was wrongly expropriated from their tribe in 1951. Despite 12 years of court proceedings producing repeated injunctions, including a 2003 evacuation notice against the nine individuals then found to be trespassing at Al-Arakib, the Bedouin clan continued to return to the site. Many advocacy groups criticized the demolition as enforcing the expropriation of property that the Bedouin clan claimed was its own prior to 1951, although it was unable to prove prior ownership in court. Police repeatedly demolished rebuilt structures on eight separate occasions by the end of the year.

The law bars family reunification in cases where one spouse is a non-Jewish citizen of Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Lebanon. Male spouses who are 35 or older and female spouses who are 25 or older may apply for temporary visit permits but may not receive residency based on their marriage and have no path to citizenship. The government originally enacted the law following 23 terrorist attacks involving suicide bombers from the occupied territories who had gained access to Israeli identification through family unification. During the year human rights NGOs and international organizations continued to criticize this ban, which primarily affected Palestinian spouses of Arab citizens. Mossawa claimed the law affected more than 21,000 families, including couples with long-standing marriages. In June 2009 in response to a petition by Kayan, PHR-I, and ACRI, the Supreme Court demanded an explanation within six months from the government for its refusal to grant social and health insurance to an estimated 5,000 Palestinian spouses of citizens who were granted "staying permits" to reside legally in Israel. On January 27, the court recommended the government provide a temporary solution that would be in place until an official policy could be formulated. On July 4, the government requested an additional five months to formulate a response regarding the provision of social benefits to nonresidents.

Public debate continued over the suggestion of some Jewish politicians, including the foreign minister and members of his Yisrael Beitenu party in media interviews and speeches throughout the year, of "an exchange of populated territories" of Arab villages in Israel to the West Bank (in return for transferring Jewish settlements in the West Bank to Israel, by way of adjusting the border) as part of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arab citizens of Israel overwhelmingly condemned the proposal, while Jewish opinion ranged from support to condemnation.

While Arab communities in the country generally faced economic difficulties (the NGO Dirasat, the Arab Center for Law and Policy, stated that 97 percent of all Arab local councils ranked in the bottom four economic development clusters on a national index), the Bedouin segment of the Arab population was the most disadvantaged. More than half of the population of about 160,000 Bedouin lived in seven state-planned communities, which were among the eight poorest communities in the country, according to a 2008 report by Human Rights Watch. Approximately 60,000 Bedouin lived in at least 46 unrecognized tent or shack villages that did not have water and electricity, and lacked educational, health, and welfare services.

Government planners noted there were insufficient funds to relocate Bedouin living in unrecognized villages to new towns, and the average Bedouin family could not afford to purchase a home in existing towns; however, the government maintained a program to encourage such movement by providing low-cost land and compensation for demolition of illegal structures for those willing to move to designated permanent locations. Many Bedouin complained that moving to government-planned towns required giving up claims to land they had lived on for generations, while the government claimed it was difficult to provide services to clusters of buildings throughout the Negev that ignored planning procedures.

At year's end a government implementation team was in the final stages of creating a plan for the Bedouin housing situation in the Negev, as recommended in 2008 by the Goldberg Committee.

By year's end the Supreme Court had not ruled on a 2006 Adalah appeal of the Haifa District Court decision not to overturn a Water Tribunal decision denying water services to unrecognized villages. Bedouins living in established towns have municipal services; the government additionally built water centers in six Bedouin localities.

The government prohibits Druze citizens, like all citizens, from visiting Syria. The government allowed noncitizen Druze from the Golan Heights to visit holy sites in Syria through the ICRC-managed pilgrimage program, but it has prevented family visitations since 1982.

A population of about 100,000 Ethiopian Jews faced persistent social discrimination although officials and the majority of citizens, quickly and publicly condemned discriminatory acts against them.

On May 4, approximately 200 parents and children protested racial segregation in Beer Sheva's Otzar Haim kindergarten, where they claimed that Ethiopian Jewish children were educated in a separate room from the rest of the children. An official from the Industry, Trade, and Labor Ministry then visited the site and forced the school to cease the segregation.

On July 13, the NGO Tebeka, Advocacy for Equality and Justice for Ethiopian Israelis, filed suit against an Egged bus driver in the Petah Tikvah Magistrates Court for refusing a student entry and then making racist statements against Ethiopian Jews. The bus company suspended the driver, and the Ministry of Transport filed suit against the driver and the bus company.

In the Bnei Brak neighborhood of Tel Aviv in November, a resident assaulted an Ethiopian Jewish teenager after refusing to allow her to enter a religious ritual bath. Police arrested the suspect and he was indicted before the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court.

During the year the government introduced several programs to spur economic development and to encourage greater hiring of minorities.

Societal Abuses, Discrimination, Acts of Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the government generally enforced these laws.

Gay pride rallies occurred peacefully in Tel Aviv on June 11 and in Jerusalem on July 29. An estimated 2,000 persons participated in the Jerusalem rally. There were police authorization and protection for the participants. Three separate antigay rallies were held in conjunction with the Jerusalem rally, including one in Independence Park where protesters held up signs reading: "Sick perverts, get out of Jerusalem," according to media reports. There was also a demonstration against the march in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim.

There were no reports of violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community during the year; however, in August 2009 a masked gunman killed Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Trobishi, 16, and wounded 15 others in the offices of the NGO GLBT Israel in Tel Aviv. At year's end, a police investigation continued, but the perpetrator had not been found. High-level politicians, including the president and prime minister, condemned the attacks. Authorities arrested settler Yaakov Teitel (see sections 1.a. and the annex) in October 2009 after he posted signs praising the attack, but police did not charge him with the killings. On August 30, in commemoration of the 2009 attack, the Tel Aviv municipality launched an educational program for Tel Aviv schools focusing on LGBT issues, including the prevention of discrimination.

There were cases of official and societal discrimination against the LGBT community during the year.

On September 14, the Supreme Court ruled that the Jerusalem municipality discriminated against a LGBT community center by not providing similar funding that had been provided to similar community centers.

An article in Yediot Ahronot on September 19 stated that Jerusalem Family Court Judge Phillip Marcus called on the government to investigate whether LGBT petitioners are "pedophiles or serial killers."

Other Societal Violence or Discrimination

There were no reports of societal violation or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.

Section 7 Worker Rights

a. The Right of Association

The government effectively implemented laws concerning the right of association and provided that citizens may join and establish independent labor organizations of their choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements. According to the government, approximately 33 percent of the total workforce is unionized. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without government interference.

Unions have the right to strike, and workers exercised this right. If essential public services are affected by a strike, the government may appeal to labor courts for back-to-work orders while negotiations continue. Worker dismissals and the terms of severance arrangements traditionally have been the central issues of disputes.

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The law provides for the right for citizens to bargain collectively, and it was enforced. There were no restrictions on collective bargaining agreements, which covered approximately 58 percent of all workers. Collective bargaining agreements extend to nonunion workplaces in the same sector. The law specifically prohibits antiunion discrimination, and none was reported.

There are no export processing zones.

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor and criminalizes labor exploitation. However, according to a March OECD review, the laws concerning minimum employment conditions and foreign workers were not effectively enforced.

The law provides that foreign laborers have legal status, decent working conditions, health insurance, and a written employment contract; nonetheless, some employers continued to force individual laborers who entered the country, legally and illegally, to live under conditions that constituted involuntary servitude.

A 2009 reorganization of the immigration and employment law enforcement functions left the Ministry of Interior's Population, Immigration, and Border Crossings Authority with the power to arrest and detain workers but not to enforce labor or trafficking laws against employers. As a result, according to Hotline, even in cases when an illegal worker was detained when working, inspectors were unable to charge the employer with labor law violations or illegal employment.

Some workers faced conditions of forced labor, including through such practices as the unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, the inability to change or otherwise choose one's employer, nonpayment of wages, threats, and physical intimidation. There were numerous documented cases but few resulting employer prosecutions, concerning foreign laborers' living in harsh conditions and subject to debt bondage. The NGO Kav LaOved identified several dozen employees in the agricultural sector held under conditions of slavery and subjugation and facilitated their release to government-run shelters. Thai agricultural workers, Chinese construction workers, and nursing care workers from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines--particularly women--were at greatest risk for abuse, including trafficking, forced labor, nonpayment, and withholding of wages.

On February 7, Kav LaOved filed a complaint with police alleging human trafficking of Thai agricultural workers. According to Kav LaOved, the employer paid the workers NIS 120 ($34) a day, far below minimum wage; forced them to work 14-hour days with only one day off every two weeks; and made them sign falsified reports of hours and salary. At year's end, police had taken no action against the employer, but authorities had moved the workers to a government-operated shelter and found them new jobs.

Kav LaOved also filed complaints with police regarding trafficking at a moshav (privately owned farm) in the Beit Shean Valley, underpayment and harassment by an owner of a moshav near the Gaza Strip, and violations of the Work and Rest Hours Law, the Migrant Workers Law, and Minimum Wage Law by employers at a moshav in the Beit Shean Valley.

In the caregiving sector, Kav LaOved filed complaints of violations in several cases, including allegations that a caregiver employed in Herzelia was forced to work without compensation in exchange for a "fee" for her visa, that two additional caregivers in Herzelia were not given sufficient food and had wages withheld, and that a caregiver employed in Ashdod was forced to have sex.

In August 2009 following a complaint by Kav LaOved, a criminal indictment was filed in the Beer Sheva Magistrate's Court against the agricultural company Katif Venture and Development Limited and some of its employees, charging them with employing Thai and Nepalese agricultural workers in inhumane conditions. The charges included making the employees work for 15 to 20 hours each day, seven days per week, paying well below the minimum wage with no overtime compensation; constantly threatening to accelerate the employees' work pace lest they be returned to their home countries; and prohibiting use of a telephone. The workers were also required to live in extremely crowded conditions in temporary buildings that were completely exposed to the elements. The employers were charged with exploitation, fraud, and causing injury by negligence. The case was pending in court at year's end.

Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g.tip.

d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment

Laws provide for protection of children from exploitation in the workplace and prohibit forced or compulsory labor; the government generally enforced these laws.

Children at least 14 years old may be employed during official school holidays in light work that will not harm their health. Children at least 15 years old who have completed education through grade nine may be employed as apprentices. Working hours for those children between16 and 18 years old are restricted in all sectors.

During the year the Labor Laws Enforcement Division in the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor initiated 250 investigations, investigated more than 1,000 employers for allegedly violating the law, filed 55 indictments against employers, and imposed 822 administrative fines totaling approximately NIS 10.5 million ($3 million).

The Labor Law Enforcement Division also conducted national campaigns regarding employment terms of youth to promote the implementation of youth labor laws, especially during summer vacation.

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Labor Inspection Service, along with union representatives, enforced labor, health, and safety standards in the workplace. Resource constraints affected overall enforcement, and according to the OECD the country continued to have a general problem of failing to enforce its labor laws.

The minimum wage was NIS 3,850 ($1,083) per month for a 43-hour week. There are reduced minimum wages for youths and persons with disabilities. The government considered the minimum wage, supplemented by special allowances for citizens, to provide a citizen worker a decent standard of living. Some union officials, NGOs, and social commentators disputed this claim. Noncitizen workers did not receive the special allowances. Resource constraints limited inspections, particularly of conditions in the settlements where many Thai citizens work.

The law allows for citizens a maximum 43-hour workweek at regular pay. The law provides for citizens a daily break for a period of 45 minutes, which may be divided into two breaks. Premium pay was 125 percent for the first two hours and 150 percent for any additional hours, with a limit of 15 hours of overtime per week.

The law applies to noncitizens, although with modifications, and enforcement was not adequate, according to Hotline and other NGOs. Migrant workers in the homecare sector are not covered by the Work and Rest Hours Law.

The government set occupational health and safety standards. The Ministry of Industry carried out inspections. Health and safety inspections in the homecare sector were particularly insufficient, according to Kav LaOved.

Documented foreign workers were not entitled to many of the same benefits as citizens, including national health care. Employers are legally required to provide such insurance, and most employers did so. Female migrant workers in the homecare sector remained particularly vulnerable to abuse and forced labor. The live-in arrangements and lack of labor law enforcement led to many cases of women migrant workers working "on a 24-hour basis," according to Kav LaOved. These workers also worked without suitable compensation for overtime and were forced to perform domestic tasks such as cleaning and cooking for all family members without compensation.

According to Kav LaOved, foreign workers in the agricultural sector also remained vulnerable to health and safety violations; prolonged exposure to pesticides led to complaints of breathing difficulties, burns, skin allergies, and cases of cancer; and there were several complaints from agricultural foreign workers of nonpayment for overtime, excessive working hours, and poor living conditions.

According to the government, workers, including foreign workers, can remove themselves from a dangerous work situation and seek alternate employment. However, Kav LaOved maintained that in practice workers in the homecare and agricultural sectors were not able to seek alternative employment due to pressures from their sponsoring agencies.

Brokers and employers collected hiring fees from migrant workers. The government limited such fees to NIS 3,135 (approximately $883) per worker.

On August 24, after complaints about excessive commission rates and profiteering over money transfers, the Ministry of Interior closed Interman Management Initiatives and Consultations Limited. The company, which brought migrant workers, largely from Thailand, to the country's agriculture sector, charged an average commission rate of NIS 35,546 ($10,000) for each foreign worker.

The government reported that, during the last two years, it revoked at least18 companies' recruitment licenses and their special permits to recruit foreign workers. Investigations and administrative hearings led to the closure of some recruitment agencies.

Workers may contest deportation orders, but lack of fluency in Hebrew placed them at a considerable disadvantage. Interpreters were provided when available, but no court-appointed attorneys were provided. According to Hotline, the lack of interpreters in various governmental agencies continued to be a "grave problem," and public information in languages other than Hebrew was hard to obtain.