Last update - 00:00 13/01/2008
State: Farmers falsified data to get more foreign hands
By Ruth Sinai
Hundreds of farmers are suspected of providing false or incomplete data in order to receive permits to hire extra foreign workers, the Agriculture Ministry says.
The ministry published online a list of approximately 900 farmers whose annual returns from agriculture or annual water consumption do not correspond to the number of foreign workers they asked to hire.
"The Agriculture Ministry intends to minimize or withdraw our support for letting these employers hire foreign workers in 2008," said Taniv Rofe, ministry deputy planning director.
To date, the number of permits granted was calculated based on how many dunams the farmer said he was farming, and the type of crop being grown. The farmers were asked to provide income tax documents to back up their request.
Last year, the Agriculture Ministry decided also to require financial statements, which provided data on the farmer's annual revenue. Also required were water bills.
"We know how many shekels can be earned per dunam of a particular crop, we can calculate based on annual income the number of workers needed, and we can ask, 'Why did you write 30 dunams when your income seems to come from 10 dunams?'" Rofe says.
Based on the income reports, ministry officials can also calculate whether the farmer can actually employ the number of workers requested. Employing a foreign worker costs at least NIS 70,000 per year.
The Farmers' Association tried to block the ministry's decision. However, its petition to the Jerusalem District Court was rejected, because the state proved it had a genuine need for the data it requested.
Rofe says some of the farmers on the list have good reasons for the gap between their income and the number of foreign workers sought, and she explains that between 2005 and 2006, for example, some have expanded their crop yield. But she adds that they need to show proof.