RHR succeeds in modifying the the Omnibus Law of Arrangements (Economic Arrangements Bill)

By Rabbi Idit Lev on June 29, 2006 - ג' תמוז תשס"ו

Poverty in Israel As in past years we are organizing the lobby team of the Forum of Organizations Against Unemployment, which is leading, among other things, the struggle against Economic Arrangements Law (Khok HaHesdarim). This year we have protested against paragraphs of the law concerning labor and unemployment, as well as paragraphs regarding the endangering of democracy, which emerge in the structural reforms passed in the Knesset through short-procedure legislation and in the cancellation of social legislation.The document written by us this year was adopted by Knesset Members Sheli Yechimovitch and Orit Noked, and we were indeed successful in our lobby work and several paragraphs were removed from the law.

Despite the things said by the chairman of the Finances Committee of the Knesset, MK Litzman “next year there will be no Khok HaHesdarim because there will be no one left to hurt”, I fear that the Ministry of Finances will find additional topics to submit to the Knesset in the 2007 budget.

As part of our struggle we have spent long hours in Knesset committees debates and we have presented our point of view in the media.

Changes in the budget include:

1. Canceling the transfer of management of NII properties from NII to the Finance Ministry.
2. Maintaining eligibility of newly discharged soldiers to unemployment compensation. The intent was to no longer consider a soldier employed when s/he was serving.
3. Canceling changing the way of calculating unemployment compensation for a person who takes a low paying job that would punish that person for working.
4. Canceling the giving of authority to the Finance Ministry to cancel collective agreements, etc., for all bodies receiving government funding.
5. Canceling changes that would have limited the ability of those who can not afford cable TV to get reception of public channels by forcing them to pay cable companies for reception.
6. Canceling the planned cutoff of funds to allow sick children to learn at home or in the hospital.
7. Canceling the requirement that those appealing to labor court pay for expert witnesses. This would make it financially impossible for many workers to apply.
8. Preventing the cancellation of the benefits of army widows who have a common law marriage by treating her as a remarried widow.
9. Canceling a plan to charge a divorcing couple for a social worker for the children.
10. Canceling the changes in the definition of an ongoing tenant in public housing to prevent grandchildren who were living with their grandparents from staying in the apartment.
11. Preventing the cancellation of the Public Housing Law allowing tenants to purchase their homes at discounted rates.

We thank Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Pninae Fireston and Leah Liberman-Bender, for their work and cooperation. I am sorry to say, but I fear that next year we’ll have to work as hard as this year.

For more explanations and details you can contact me at:

Rabbi Idit Lev
rhreco@rhr.israel.net
Reservations about the 2006 Omnibus Law of Arrangements (Economic Arrangements Bill) [HEBREW PDF 93 KB]