Last update - 00:00 06/04/2007
Agriculture Ministry smuggling unit suspected of abuse
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
A unit in the Agriculture Ministry that is supposed to stop the smuggling of produce from the Palestinian Authority into Israel is riding roughshod over policy according to a 2005 internal report, and has mistreated local Bedouin this week, according to their testimony.
The unit, according to a ministry report from December 2005, was responsible for illegal destruction of produce from the territories, purchase of firearms against regulations, deviation from the unit's defined fields of activity and a long list of other concerns.
Established in 1994, following the Oslo Accords, the unit was meant to supervise agricultural produce coming from the PA to Israel and prevent smuggling. Over the years its authority extended to include veterinary and fishing supervision and assistance to the security forces in handling agricultural theft.
Gaber Al Atrash, a resident of an unrecognized Bedouin settlement, related one incident on Thursday: "My brothers were driving to Hura with two sheep. They were taking them to the slaughterhouse in Hura, in preparation for an event we are celebrating."
Al Atrash says that a jeep from the ministry unit parked about 500 meters from the entrance to Hura stopped Al Atrash's brothers, removed them from the vehicle and took it to the police station, leaving them stranded.
The two contacted Al Atrash, who took them to the police station, where, he says, they were given a summons for questioning and were told their vehicle was confiscated for illegal transport of animals. The men said they were given no documentation from the confiscation.
According to the 2005 report, such incidents are not uncommon, though in contradiction to regulations.
According to the 2005 report, the unit has destroyed seedlings and vegetable produce transferred from the PA without authorization to do so. That year 31 orders to destory produce were issued.
The report said the unit conducts inspections in factories, grocery chains and sales points, activities that should be conducted by local authorities.
The unit reportedly assumed the authority to act against cattle theft, conduct cattle and sheep censuses and facilitate approval of foreign agricultural workers by verifying farmer statements - all of which exceed its authority.
The report noted that the unit applies force against smugglers at its own discretion, but these cases are not necessarily brought to court.
Most of the files have been closed by the Justice Ministry prosecutions unit, and nine files were closed by the Agriculture Ministry unit itself.
In one instance detailed in the report, a smuggler caught by the Border Police at the Anata junction with hundreds of kilograms of vegetables was released without questioning, and his produce illegally destroyed. His vehicle was confiscated for three days, and he was released after signing a waiver to any claim against the unit.
The report details, among other incidents, the destruction of a flock of sheep and 15 tons of cucumbers, resulting in fines of hundreds of thousands of shekels.
Sharp criticism of the unit's management includes the purchase of 40 firearms, without any investigation of their need or purpose, the issuing of firearms to employees without a gun license, disregarding the recommendation of a doctor not to issue firearms to an employee and missing equipment worth NIS 800,000. It also revealed that until 2005, the head of the intelligence department in the unit possessed a criminal record, and left after being arrested on suspicion of criminal acts in the framework of his post.
In response to this report, a ministry spokesman said that most of the conclusions in the report had been implemented.