Israel Hayom | In the race for chief rabbi job, pesky laws get in the way

Apparently there is some opposition to changing the law regarding the age and term limits for the Chief Rabbi position. The move to change the law is motivated by the desire of some MKs to have Rav Yaakov Ariel serve as the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi although he is over the age of 70 and to have Rav Shlomo Amar to serve a second term as Sephardi Chief Rabbi.

I also oppose the change. The original law prevents anyone over the age of 70 from running for the position of Chief Rabbi and limits him to one term. To change the law to allow a certain candidate to serve in the position strikes me as uncivilized. Mayor Bloomberg did it and dictators do it all the time.

That being said, I don't remember the Knesset members raising such a fuss when they they passed a similar law to allow Justice Grunis to become the President of the Supreme Court.

Israel Hayom | Israel airport guards may ask 'suspicious' tourists to open their email accounts

This is pretty interesting/disturbing. But I wonder, now that this is public knowledge, terrorists who want to harm Israel can easily evade this security measure by having multiple email accounts and giving the password to one of them to security staff and not telling them about the others. Or I bet there are a hundred different ways to get around this.

Israel airport guards may ask 'suspicious' tourists to open their email accounts

Israel Hayom Staff

Foreign citizens visiting Israel may be asked to open their email accounts for airport security when they land at Ben-Gurion International Airport, the Attorney-General's Office stated Wednesday in response to a petition by a leading Israeli civil rights group.

"The threat of using foreign citizens for terrorist purposes is a growing trend," the Attorney-General's Office warned, in a missive to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which had petitioned the Justice Ministry to overrule such invasive security measures. "Searching an email account is to be carried out in exceptional cases only after suspicious or pertinent information has been identified [by Shin Bet personnel]."

Though the Israel Security Agency [Shin Bet] can request access to an email account before the passenger passes customs and leaves the airport, it cannot demand passwords or personal information that would allow the agency itself to access private accounts. Rather, Shin Bet staff may ask the traveler to open his or her account in view of security personnel, who can then check emails for incriminating evidence that may be relevant to issues of public or national security, wrote lawyer Nadim Avod writing on behalf of the Attorney-General's Office.

In addition, the traveler can refuse access to his or her personal email to security personnel, but Shin Bet agents at Ben-Gurion airport can consequently deny the traveler entry to Israel. Avod cited the law of entry to Israel, written in 1952, which states that a foreigner does not have the explicit right to enter the country. The relevant authorities -- in this case the Shin Bet -- decide who can enter and who cannot, the statement explained, and in such cases of exceptional suspicion, access to private email may be required.

The Attorney-General's Office was responding to a petition by ACRI, which said that asking for passwords to email or social media accounts is against Israeli law. ACRI asked the Justice Ministry to clarify its position after reports in various media, such as The Associated Press, reported that airport security personnel had demanded Arab travelers open their email accounts.

The Associated Press reports that "The [Shin Bet] agent, suspecting [Sandra] Tamari was involved in pro-Palestinian activism, wanted to inspect her private email account for incriminating evidence. The 42-year-old American of Palestinian descent refused and was swiftly expelled from the country."

ACRI attorney Lila Margalit said, “Invading a computer or an email account constitutes a grave violation of privacy and dignity."

The Attorney-General's Office seemed to agree that requesting a password would be illegal, but stressed that the incidents in question were exceptional cases where security personnel did not ask for passwords, but rather asked the traveler to log in so his or her accounts could be surveyed.

Similar issues have been litigated in the US. See here for a discussion of a case where a party was ordered by the court to turn over his social media passwords. And see here for a discussion of your right to protect sensitive data (from 2011).

See here for tips on how to hide your data from law enforcement.

Calcalist: One Quarter of Lawyers in Israel Make Less than the Average Wage

According to this hebrew article 10% of lawyers in Israel gross less than 5,667 NIS per month. Another 10% make between 5,667 and 8,500 NIS per month. The average income across professions is 9,100 NIS per month.

Greenberg Traurig recently opened an office in Tel Aviv and now they've started a blog relating to laws effecting companies doing business in Israel. We wish them lots of luck here.

TANSTAFL- Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

I think this op-ed from Yediot Aharonot is right on.

No Free Meals - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews:

Orly Azoulay

People who are familiar with the codes in Washington know that in this town there are no free lunches. The president of a superpower does not visit a country overseas without knowing that the results of the trip have been assured ahead of time to his satisfaction and in accordance with his interests. Obama has decided to visit Israel because he understood from Netanyahu last week that a two-state solution is possible.

 

The president and his advisors do not really believe Netanyahu and are not concealing their suspicion towards him. But as far as they are concerned, Netanyahu actually lost the recent elections and will therefore do whatever is asked of him. He has no choice.

Obama is coming in order to apply pressure on Netanyahu's weak point after the people of Israel have spoken and after America's fear that Israel was shifting to the right proved to be, for the most part, unfounded. 

 

The fact that the White House announced the visit at a time when coalition negotiations in Israel are ongoing is not coincidental. The US is signaling to Lapid and Livni that this is the time to jump on the bandwagon and be a part of the next government, because the president is serious: He is not seeking revenge; nor is he indifferent; Obama is coming to Israel to complete the mission, and he needs them in the coalition.

 

Secretary of State John Kerry, who will be touring the region before Obama, is showing extraordinary enthusiasm about the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Obama had his doubts, but they have diminished somewhat. As far as Obama is concerned, Netanyahu is the prime minister, but he is no longer king.

 

Obama will come to Jerusalem to speak to the Israeli public above Netanyahu's head. He will try to charm the Israeli public and allay its security-related concerns. He will give the Israelis what they crave for: A big hug from a foreign leader and an almost limitless line of credit.

 

After winning the hearts of the people, Obama will get down to business. His mission: Renew the alliance with the Israeli public and clarify to Netanyahu that playtime is over. He does not intend to let up until white smoke appears.

Israeli Physicians to be Told They Must Treat HIV Carriers- Haaretz

According to a report by Haaretz, the Israeli Medical Association-(IMA)'s ethics committee has decided that it is unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat a patient with HIV. (For the IMA's statement in Hebrew click here.) I'm not sure why doctors would refuse HIV patients any more than patients with other highly infectious and fatal diseases. The article suggests that it may be due to certain prejudices and a stigma that attaches to HIV patients. Now, this statement by the IMA is not a legal decision so if a doctor would refuse to treat a patient it seems that they would not be violating any law but they might be subject to discipline by the IMA.

This new stance is not so clear to me because the IMA's position, found on its website, is that "A physician must offer medical assistance in urgent cases or in life-saving situations. In any other instance a physician may decide not to provide medical treatment to a patient for personal or professional reasons." So I'm not sure whether this new statement is referring to urgent cases or non-urgent cases. If it is referring to non-urgent cases then it seems to signal a reversal of policy. (In Australia, doctors have a duty to provide care, at least in urgent cases, even where there is no previously existing doctor-patient relationship.)

The Old Paint and Tow Scheme in Tel Aviv

A woman got a parking ticket for parking in a handicapped spot that wasn't marked handicapped until after she had parked. The municipality painted it around and under her car and then towed it for being parked in a handicapped spot. She went to fight her ticket with the embedded video surveillance footage and the city waived the fine and apologized to her. 

Mitigating factors for the city: I did read somewhere that a sign had been put up there even though the street had not been painted yet. It also seems to me that the curb is painted blue, the color for handicapped spots. Also, I think I read that the people who painted the sign and probably the towers are subcontractors for the city.