Elections for the 19th Knesset

The Knesset page for the elections for the 19th Knesset has some informative material in English, and this Hebrew warning from the Gripe Police:

 

(Translation: If you want to continue to gripe, fulfill your civic duty and go vote on Election Day. Remember, if you don't vote, your griping rights will be voided for the next four years. On Election Day, vote and then afterwards feel free to complain.)

There is scheduled to be a rally in Jerusalem's Kikar Shabbos tonight organized by the Eida Chareidis urging people not to vote. The Satmar Rebbe from Williamsburg is scheduled to attend.

The Degel Hatorah party distributed flyers this morning countering those who say religious Jews should not vote in the elections. Their main argument was that not voting is not a neutral statement. It saps the strength of the religious sector and give the anti-religious parties a greater majority.  

If you are going to attend the rally, please send in some photos, and remember according to the Knesset Election Law: Any person who does one of the following can expect to be punished... Influences the voter's choice of a list of candidates through the use of oaths, curses, excommunication, or blessings.

*UPDATE*
According to the Times of Israel, the Degel HaTorah party did not heed my warning and was offering blessings to those who vote for the party. Disaster was averted, however, when:

Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, head of the Central Elections Committee suggested changing the text from “blessed with” to “merited with.” Another sentence that had the phrase “will be blessed from the source of all blessings” should be altered to “will merit all goodness from the source of all bounty,” Rubinstein ordered.

Al Jazeera Explains How Israel's Elections Work

Here's a primer on Israel's electoral system from Al Jazeera of all places.

When voters go to the polls on January 22, few are expecting major changes. Binyamin Netanyahu, leading the right-wing Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu list, is almost certain to retain the post of prime minister in the 19th Knesset.

Netanyahu's would-be coalition partners, however, could play a role in changing government policy towards the prospects for peace with the Palestinians, domestic economic management and broader trends in international affairs, including how Israel deals with Iran's nuclear programme. Political analysts are split on whom Netanyahu would ask to join a coalition.

Security issues are high on this election's agenda, and social inequality has been emphasised by a number of the parties. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not played as prominent a role in this year's campaigns as it has in previous election cycles.

How is the government elected?

Based on a system of proportional representation, where voters select a party instead of a specific individual, Israeli elections have always resulted in coalition governments. To win an outright majority, a party would need to win more than 60 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

The minimum required for a party to win a Knesset seat is two percent of the total votes cast.

The prime minister is normally - but not always - the leader of the party that wins the most seats. He or she then negotiates with other parties to form a governing coalition.

In the 2009 election, although the incumbent prime minister's party, Kadima, won the most seats in the parliament, the Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu was able to form a majority coalition government and become the new prime minister.

Why were elections called?

Netanyahu called for early elections in October 2012, saying he wouldn't be able to pass a "responsible" budget with his current coalition partners. He was pushing for deeper cuts to public spending.

If he hadn't called an early vote, the election would have happened in October 2013 - after the completion of the Netanyahu government's four-year term. In the past two decades, it has been rare for an Israeli government to finish a full term.

Who can vote?

Israeli citizens of all ethnic and religious groups above the age of 18 are entitled to vote. This includes Arab citizens of Israel, who generally vote in lower numbers than Jewish Israelis.

5,656,705 eligible voters can cast ballots at 10,128 polling stations, including 190 in hospitals and 57 in prisons. There are also 96 voting places at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad.

What are the election logistics?

There are 34 party lists competing for seats, reflecting a wide range of outlooks and beliefs. Prior to the elections, each party presents its platform and the list of candidates for the Knesset in order of precedence.

The Central Elections Committee, headed by a justice of the Supreme Court and including representatives of the parties holding seats in the Knesset, is responsible for conducting and supervising the elections.

Polls will open at 7:00am (0500GMT) and close at 10:00pm (2000GMT) on January 22. Election Day is a public holiday.

Who is in the current government?

Likud-Beiteinu, the governing electoral alliance led by Netanyahu, currently holds a combined 42 seats in the Knesset. 

Likud ["The Consolidation"] first came to power in 1977 under the leadership of Menachem Begin, a former head of the Irgun armed paramilitary group. Yisrael Beiteinu ["Israel Our Home"], founded by Avigdor Lieberman in 1999, has policies further to the right of Likud and is seen by many as extremist.

Kadima ["Forward"], the party founded by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005, holds 28 seats. It is led by Shaul Mofaz, who is seen as a centist. The party promotes a two-state solution with the Palestinians. It is not polling well in the upcoming election and may struggle to win a single seat.

Labour, led by Shelly Yachimovich, holds just eight seats, and is trying to focus its campaign on economic issues, rather than on security. 

HaBayit HaYehudi ["The Jewish Home"] is set to make some of the biggest gains in this election. Currently it only holds three seats but the right-wing, religious party led by Naftali Bennett, a former special forces commander, has gained popularity.

In its first election, HaTnuah ["The Movement"] led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, says it supports a return to negotiations with the Palestinians and claims to be an alternative to Likud. It is expected to win about seven seats.

Led by TV host Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid ["There is a future"] is a new party that portrays itself as an alternative to the established groups. It is set to win more than six seats, according to polls.

Shas, a religious party comprised of Jews originally hailing from North African and Middle Eastern countries, currently holds 11 seats.

What are some other parties?

Yahadut HaTorah ["United Torah Judaism"], another religious party, caters primarily to Ashkenazi Haredi groups and holds five seats.

Meretz ["Energy"], a secular party newly led by Zahava Gal-On, is seen as pro-environment and left-leaning, and holds three seats.

Ra'am-Ta'al [an acronym for "The Arab Movement for Renewal"], an alliance primarily supported by Arab-Israelis, holds four seats.

Hadash [an acronym for "The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality"], a leftist party led by Mohammed Barakeh with support from Arabs and Jews, also holds four seats.

Balad [an acronym for "National Democratic Assembly"], a secular Arab nationalist party led by Jamal Zahalka, holds three seats.

The task of forming a government and heading it as prime minister is assigned by President Shimon Peres to the Knesset member considered to have the best chance of forming a viable coalition government in light of the results.

Parties remaining outside the government comprise the opposition. The Knesset member to whom the task is assigned has a period of 28 days to form a government. The president may extend this term by up to 14 days.

Israel Hayom | Pollsters beware: Six months in prison for violation of rules

Although the elections are still months away, Israel Hayom had a short article today reminding Israeli pollsters of the restrictions that apply to them. The Israeli version of Nate Silver and the Fivethirtyeight blog may not be as accurate as in the US because the laws regarding polling are more strict (in fact, I don't know if there are any laws regarding polling in the US.)

From the article:

The Knesset's Central Election Commission on Wednesday warned public opinion pollsters ahead of the upcoming elections that they must follow legislated guidelines, and that those who fail to do so could face significant punishment of up to six months in jail or a fine of up to 29,000 shekels.

According to an appendix of the Election Law, "Whoever conducts a poll using known statistical methods, during the 90-day period prior to Knesset elections … will transfer the results as soon as possible, accompanied by a detailed account of the information, to the Central Election Commission."

In addition, pollsters are required to reveal the name of the organization that ordered the survey, the date or dates it was conducted, the population from which the sample pool was taken, and the number of people who refused to take part in the survey, among other stipulations.

The law also states that two days before elections to the Knesset, no public opinion polls are allowed to be published.  

I like the fact that no polls can be conducted 2 days before the election. I think this helps to ensure that people are not discouraged from voting based on poll data whether accurate or fictional.

For a paper on Israel Election Laws see Eyes They Have, But They See Not. And to read some background regarding the upcoming Israeli elections see here.

Do We Need a Law Clarifying the Duties of a Paramedic?

The JPost reported on a story where the family of a man is blaming Magen David Adom, the Israeli paramedics, for not transporting the individual to the hospital after he apparently suffered a stroke. The paramedics say that the patient refused to be transported to the hospital.

From the article: 

[MK Rachel] Adatto [a physician] said that MDA paramedics are often in a dilemma. About 20 percent of all patients who need to be evacuated to hospital refuse to be taken. Thus, if the patient needs urgent medical care and refuses to be hospitalized, the paramedic is on the one hand exposed to lawsuits regarding inadequate treatment if he does not evacuate the patient, and on the other hand may be exposed to lawsuits if he acts against the patient’s will.

The Patients’ Rights Law (1996) gives the individual autonomy over his body and health. If the patient is unconscious and unaware of his condition, he can be hospitalized without permission being granted.

I think a law like this is probably a good idea. I'm surprised they don't have one already.

Here is an article from Australia about this topic and one from the US.

Man Attacks Estranged Wife in Hospital- New Law Should Prevent Re-occurrence

Apparently, violence in health care facilities is a problem in Israel worthy of its own law.

The JPost reported today that a man attacked his estranged wife and hospital staff in the maternity ward. In May they reported on 3 brothers of a woman who was placed in a emergency shelter for domestic violence victims who went to the social worker’s home with clubs and iron bars and beat up her husband and other family members. According to a report at the Health Policy Monitor:

A comprehensive study conducted in 2003/4 on violence in emergency rooms in Israel (Landau et al. 2004) revealed that 75% of the medical staff reported a violent incident in the past year. Most reports related to verbal violence, but 29% reported threats and 16% physical violence...

This problem receives growing media attention; it was debated in the parliamentary committee for work welfare and health in 2007. During 2008, several academic conferences were dedicated to the issue and discussed measures to address it.

Life in Israel: Law Proposal: Strollers On Buses

Reposted from: Life in Israel: Law Proposal: Strollers On Buses:

If you were to get on a bus with a baby stroller and you have to either take the baby out and fold it up or else pay for an additional ride. Often you will see mothers, already burdened with kids and bags, start juggling everything they have including the baby they are removing from the stroller, all while the bus is lurching forward, in order to avoid being required to pay for the additional ride.

A law was proposed that would put an end to stroller-based-discrimination. An extra ride on public transportation would not need to be paid for, and it would also be illegal to prevent a stroller from being brought into a public building or area. It has happened numerous times that people with strollers were prevented from entering stores, libraries and other public places.

The law was initiated by some students who were working on a project of human rights. They include in their explanation that the folded up strollers usually don't take up so much less space than when the stroller is open, and the proposal is an attempt to protect the rights of the parents and the children.

The students initiated it, but it was proposed by MK Uri Maklev of UTJ, with a variety of other MKs signed on to the bill giving it a broad consensus that almost ensures it will pass when it comes to the vote.

(source: Israel HaYom)

Cabinet Approves Tax Hikes and Budget Cuts

The Cabinet voted to increase the VAT tax and income taxes on some segments of the population in light of a projected budget shortfall. The Knesset still needs to discuss it.

According to Israel Hayom:

The new measures include raising income tax by 1 percentage point on monthly salaries exceeding the national average of 8,881 shekels ($2,198) in 2013. Taxes on monthly salaries of over 67,000 shekels will go up 2 percentage points. Income tax rates in Israel range from 10% to 48%.

Value added tax is also set to rise to 17% from 16% on Aug. 1, most government ministries' budgets will be trimmed by 5% and the tax authority will be cracking down on tax evaders to collect billions of shekels. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz also ordered immediate tax hikes on cigarettes and beer, which went into effect last week.

Israel Updates its Computer Law to Comply with the Budapest Convention

Last week Israel amended its Computer Law to bring it in line with the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. The Knesset created a new Section 6 to replace the old one. The new Section 6 makes it a crime to write or distribute software to infiltrate another's computer or or cause that computer to print false information, or whose purpose is to infringe on another's privacy or conduct eavesdropping even without actually causing harm or interference with the compromised system. It also tracks the Budapest Convention in requiring intent for the crimes listed in Section 6.


I couldn't find an English translation of the Computer Law online, so I am providing a translation that I (and Google) made after the jump.


For articles on Israel's Computers Law see this by Ruth Levush who apparently is the Law Library of Congress' Israel law expert, and an article called Computer Legislation: Israel's New Codified Approach from 1996 written by one of the law's drafters, Miguel Deutch, but not freely available online, and here and here for articles relevant to this topic. Bear in mind, however, that all of these sources in addressing Section 6, are addressing the old Section 6.

Movie Theaters Forced to Allow Outside Food

According to Ynet, the Knesset recently passed a bill requiring all public places that sell food to allow visitors to bring in their own food. Restaurants, of course, will be exempt.

The impetus for this bill was customer complaints regarding the high price of concessions, mainly popcorn, in movie theaters where patrons were banned from bringing in their own food. The Finance Committee railed against concessionaires exploiting captive audiences by charging exorbitant prices for food and drinks. The  new law won't just apply to movie theaters but to beaches, hospitals, and other public places that sell food. 

A June article at Sponser.co.il reported that the movie theater association's lawyer denied that moviegoers are a captive audience because they can eat and drink outside the theater or at home before or after they come to the theater. He compared the choice of buying a child popcorn at the movies to the choice of whether to buy him a first class ticket on a flight or to put him in coach. "It's all a matter of financial decision-making," he said. But the chair of the Finance Committee Carmel Shama-HaCohen replied that if they are comparing a child's request for popcorn and soda at the movies to his request to fly business class it shows how disconnected they are. The committee chair also was bothered by the idea that movie tickets are cheap because they are subsidized by the profits made on concession sales. But researchers at Stanford think that this is a good thing: lower tickets for all based on the consumption of some. (“The fact that the people who show up only for good or popular movies consume a lot less popcorn means that the total they pay is substantially less than that of people who will come to see anything. If you want to bring more consumers into the market, you need to keep ticket prices lower to attract them.” Theaters wisely make up the margin, he says, by transferring it to the person willing to buy the $5 popcorn bucket.)

Another article reported that movie concession stands make up to 80% of their revenue from popcorn and that popcorn sales alone account for 8% of the revenue of the company's operating the theaters. The markup on concessions may be hundreds or even a thousand percent of the wholesale cost, with popcorn costing moviegoers the equivalent of 160-200 NIS per kilo.

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reported on the LA Times story of a Michigan man who recently filed a class action suit against AMC Theaters claiming that the high prices on concessions amounts to price gouging. But "Gary Victor, an Eastern Michigan University business law professor, told the Hollywood Reporter that he thinks the case is unlikely to succeed, since the Supreme Court has given businesses in well-regulated industries an exception from consumer protection liability."

There is an article explaining the Jewish Law view of price gouging here. In Jewish law, charging 1/6 more than the going rate is considered price gouging and the consumer is entitled to get that 1/6 back. More than that, he is entitled to rescind the sale. However,"if the differential is very large and obvious, we may assume that the buyer must have been aware and has therefore knowingly paid the price (BB 78a, Shulchan Aruch 220,8)." Thus, when a person goes to the movie theater and knowing the prices there are exorbitant, he still buys food, perhaps he is deemed to have waived his right to claim price fraud.

Proposed Amendments to the Protection of Privacy Law (1981)

Amendments to the Protection of Privacy Law (1981) have been proposed in the Knesset.

The new amendments will provide that:

• acts done by parents or guardians that would otherwise be a breach of the privacy of a child will not be considered a breach if done for the benefit of the child;
• "child" shall be defined as one up to and including 13 years of age;
• someone who purposely breaches the privacy of a minor can be punished by up to 7 years in jail;
• a person requesting information  from a child for inclusion in a database must first receive the consent of the child's parent or guardian;
• direct mail may not be sent to a child without prior permission from a parent or guardian;
• requesting information from a child or sending him direct mail without prior consent from a parent or guardian is punishable by up to 3 years in jail.

And an amendment to the Consumer Protection Law (1981) would prevent anyone from exploiting the age of a counterparty to a transaction.

I must say, I think the proposed jail terms seem a bit excessive especially when according to the notes to the proposed amendment convictions under the law do not require a showing of intent or negligence.


It is interesting that "child" is defined as up to and including 13 years old. First, that is the age of adulthood for boys in Jewish law. Second, Facebook does not allow anyone under the age of 13 to create an account but 13-year-olds are permitted. So under this law, Israeli teens will have a one year waiting period until they are Facebook legal.

Israel Hayom | New law will make anonymous internet comments impossible

Israel Hayom | New law will make anonymous internet comments impossible by Edna Adato

Ministerial Legislative Committee approves proposal to obligate Internet service providers to reveal PC addresses of people who post talkbacks. If Knesset approves, law will enable people, organizations to sue talkback authors.

Israel Passes New Passenger Protection Law- from JPost

The Travel Adviser: Hit them where it hurts!  JPost - Travel - Travel News:


New Knesset law will mandate compensation for travelers who experience flight delays and cancellations.

Asher Grunis to be the Next President of the Supreme Court

Justice Grunis

The Knesset is on its way to passing a law- The Grunis Law- that will change the status quo at the Supreme Court of Israel. The current practice is that when the President of the Court retires at age 70, the next most senior Justice (based on age) becomes the new President, although I don't think that is codified in the law. (See here.) The Courts Law- 1984 provides that the President of the Supreme Court shall be appointed in accordance with Section 4(a) of the Basic Law: The Judiciary which states in turn that "A judge shall be appointed by the President of the State upon election by a Judges' Election Committee." Section 8(c) of the Courts Law states that "a judge may not be appointed to the position of President or Vice President of the Court if he/she cannot serve in this position for at least three years until mandatory retirement under section 13(a)(1)" which mandates that a judge retire at age 70.

The current President, Dorit Beinish, is set to retire in a few months. Justice Grunis, who would replace her, would only serve as President for 2 years and 10 months before turning 70, seemingly disqualifying him from the position. The Knesset's new law would waive the 3 year requirement and apparently not replace with any time requirement at all. According to the JPost the new law would apparently have a two year minimum service requirement, but I didn't see that on the Knesset website. What I read seemed to say that the nomination of a suitable President will be left to the discretion of the Committee.

While the sponsor of the bill Yaakov Katz said that his motivation is to ensure that the country doesn't lose out on a competent President like Justice Grunis because he is 41 days too old, it seems to be an open secret that the cancellation of the law is a political maneuver by Knesset members who approve of Justice Grunis' opposition to judicial activism and reticence to annul laws passed by the Knesset.

I actually worked for Justice Grunis at the Supreme Court last year when I was a foreign law clerk. See my previous post here. I liked him a lot and hope he does become the next President of the Court.

Relatedly, another law is under consideration that will change the makeup of the Election Committee which currently consists of 9 members. Section 4(b) of the Basic Law: The Judiciary currently states that "The Committee shall consist of nine members, namely, the President of the Supreme Court, two other judges of the Supreme Court elected by the body of judges thereof, the Minister of Justice and another Minister designated by the Government, two members of the Knesset elected by the Knesset and two representatives of the Bar Association elected by the National Council of the Chamber. The Minister of Justice shall be the chairman of the Committee." The new law will change the method for appointing the members of the Bar Association. The Chairman of the Bar Association will be one member and another member from the political opposition will be the other. See here.

I admit I don't understand how that will work. It assumes that the Chairman of the Bar Association belongs to a political party. What if he doesn't? Is that possible? Does it seem strange to you that the members of the Bar Association are openly political?