High Court: Tax benefits inequitable, discriminate against Arabs
High Court decision follows petition alleging that provision of substantial benefits without evident criteria contravenes the right to equality.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news Israel courts Israeli ArabsThe High Court of Justice on Wednesday ruled that the state's issue of tax benefits to Israeli citizens based on their place of residence was inequitable and discriminated against certain sectors of society, particularly Arabs.
 |
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch |
| Photo by: Archive |
Supreme Court president Dorit Beinisch, Justice Eliezer Rivlin and Justice Asher Grunis questioned the legality of these benefits, as no Arab community has been included as a recipient of the benefits.
"The government and the Knesset systematically refrained from resolving this issue, contrary to the position of the attorney general," the judges wrote in their decision.
The High Court's decision follows a petition placed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and 20 communities regarding the amendment to the income tax bill, which instituted tax cuts for a number of communities, without clear and objective criteria for the benefits, resulting in the discrimination of Arab communities.
In 2005, Adalah and ACRI submitted a petition against the discriminatory amendment. The amendment was initially intended for the communities surrounding the Gaza strip, but, the petitioners claimed, due to political considerations other communities were added as tax benefit recipients. According to the petitioners, providing substantial tax benefits without evident criteria contravenes the right to equality.
President Beinisch wrote in the court decision that since the last hearing in December 2009, there has been no legislative change whatsoever.
"Knesset members and ministers are free to act according to political considerations… in social and economic issues. However, this freedom is not absolute, and should be limited, especially when it jeopardizes fundamental rights such as the right to equality," Beinisch wrote.
Following the court's decision, Sawsan Zaher of Adalah said that court determined that "the law which provides benefits to certain communities is in fact discriminatory.
"This is an important decision for social and economic equality," Zaher said.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
As no more than a handful of arabs do either, problem solved.
Do you think it would be even remotely possible to cut off all those haredim?
There is no way you can take benefits away from the haredim.
No change envisioned in the inequity of fundamental rights of Arabs in 'moral' state!!! President Beinisch wrote in the court decision that since the last hearing in Dec 2009, there has been no legislative change whatsoever. "Knesset members and ministers are free to act according to political considerations… in social and economic issues. This freedom is not absolute, and should be limited, especially when it jeopardizes fundamental rights such as the right to equality," Beinisch wrote.
This pathetic decision underscores once again the inequalities Jewish citizens must endure to help elevate the Arab sector to ultimately dominate Israeli society. Invariably decisions by "egalitarians" lose sight of what the Jewish state is meant to promote. I don't know anything about this law but I am sure it has something to do with promoting geographic areas that are economically hard hit. It likely targets areas with large numbers of unemployed for example and the court found that no Arab communities benefitted from the program and therefore was illegal. Like usual fair minded Israelis have guilty consciences and look at the statistics and get embarrassed. The fact remains that notwithstanding these statistics, you are much better off being a poor Arab in Israel than a poor Jew. Arab sector cost of living is lower than Jewish areas. Arab taxpayers are notorious cheats even to their own municiplities, and usually don't report their true income, so that they can at the same time receive welfare benefits. Look at their families, they tend to be larger while Jews struggle to make ends meet while juggling their jobs with their reserve duties in the army. Enough is enough, if Arabs want equality then fine. Give them a secular Israeli education like you get in Tel Aviv, equality! Conscript them into the Army, equality! Send the tax man and make sure they pay their fair share of taxes, equality! Let them give as equal partners in a Jewish state, and then I will support such humiliating decisions.
Well, let's give credit where credit is due. At least an Israeli court has recognized the evil that is apparently done in the name of Israeli democracy.
The system is designed to discriminate against Arabs. The point is to quietly get rid of them. Let them know they are not welcome. Every Jew in Israel understands this and does their part. The police. The military. The politicians. The schools. Most of the time it works well, but sometimes, some liberal Jew who doesn't understand the system gets it wrong. Not only do they get it wrong, they make everybody look bad in the process and disturb the routine of QUIET discrimination. Actually, I don't mean to imply that ALL Israelis are bad guys. The good guys tend to keep a low profile though. Anyway, the high court is the culprit once again. Actually the high court is probably the only reason that Israel can claim to be a democracy rather than just a democracy for Jews. Overall though, I think that the high court manages to anger the left as much as the right, which must mean they are doing something right.
Just another example of Israeli religious discrimination. How many zionists would be quiet if another country so blatantly discriminated against Jews?
we all know she is leftist, and extrime, but we do not know how she get there, when belin was justic minister we had lot of problem, with this one well we do not know what to do