Jeremy's Knesset Insider

The Wednesday session lasted about eight hours. Twelve bills were discussed. One bill was advanced after passing its preliminary reading, one was turned into a motion, seven were withdrawn to avoid defeat and three were defeated. Four motions were discussed, two of which were sent to committee, and Prime Minister Netanyahu endured his monthly 40 MK signature discussion. The bill advanced would regulate the recognized national service institution functions. The bills defeated would have reduced the VAT on basic food items and reduced the real estate tax for purchasing a home.

Non-Bills Summary

* Industry and Trade Minister Simhon (Independence), Justice Minister Neeman, Homeland Security Minister Aharonovitch (Y.B.) and National Infrastructure Minister Landau (Y.B.) answered urgent queries at the beginning of the session.

* Speaker Rivlin greeted the former Speaker of Tonga with a warm speech.

* A 40 MK signature forced session on the topic of ‘the Netanyahu government’s failure in the political, economic and social sectors’ was discussed by 16 MKs, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Livni. Netanyahu’s speech was accepted by a 38-29 vote.

* A motion on the 2010 Poverty and Social Gaps Report was discussed by 9 MKs and Culture and Sport Minister Livnat (Likud). It was sent to committee by a 9-0 vote.

* A motion on the shortage of foreign workers in construction was discussed by two MKs and Minister Livnat. It was sent to committee by a 4-0 vote.

* A motion on the closure of radio station “Voice of Peace” was discussed by 2 MKs and Minister Livnat. The motion was defeated 3-4.

* A motion on the state of education in Israel was discussed by MK Wilf (Independence) and Deputy Education Minister Moses without a vote.

* Deputy Education Minister Moses (U.T.J.) answered two queries toward the end of the session.

Bills Summary

Veterans’ Widows Pension Bill

MK Ariel (N.U.) explained that his original bill would provide the widow of a solider a small pension. He accused the government of trying to prolong the passing of this bill in order to save money because as time goes on more widows die. He slammed the government for trying to buy time but agreed to postpone the vote on his bill for one week to give the government more time to come around.

Motion/Amendment to the Schools Inspection Bill

MK Gafni (U.T.J.) expressed support for MK Ariel’s bill and slammed the government for not supporting it today. He went on to talk about his bill and blasted the government for not treating public schools the same way they treat private religious schools in regards to school inspections. He revealed that there are many safety features that are requirements for religious schools but not for state schools and gave a few examples. He slammed the government for opposing his bill that would bring equality on the grounds that it cost NIS ten million.

Education Minister Sa’ar (Likud) explained that the safety problems of public schools are the problems of the local municipalities, as opposed to private schools that are the responsibility of the government. He agreed that this situation leads to problems in certain public schools and suggested turning the bill into a motion. Gafni agreed.

The motion passed 21-1 and was sent to the Education Committee.

Amendment to the Dead Sea Tender Bill

MK Matalon (Y.B.) explained his amendment would create a fund for the reconstruction and development of the Dead Sea region. He explained the money would come from the taxes collected from Dead Sea businesses. He agreed to postpone the vote on the bill for two to three weeks until the government agrees to support it.

Amendment to the Economic Arrangements Bill to Achieve Budget Goals and Economic Policy for Fiscal Year 2002

MK Matalon explained his amendment would create a fund for the protection of the Dead Sea coast and overall environment. He explained that this bill goes hand and hand with the previous bill. He said that the Dead Sea does not belong to the finance or tourism ministries; rather, it belongs to the Israeli citizens. He warned that letting the Dead Sea die would be suicide for the Israeli economy and something must be done soon. He agreed to postpone the vote on the bill for two to three weeks until the government agrees to support it.

Amendment to the National Service bill

MK Elkin (Likud) explained his amendment would regulate the functions of recognized national service institutions.

Bureaucracy Minister Eitan (Likud) shouted at Elkin, who was ignoring him, and demanded that he listen to his response. He expressed government support for the bill.

The bill passed its preliminary reading 33-30 with one MK abstaining and was sent to the House Committee to decide which committee will discuss the bill further.

Amendment to the Municipal Taxes and Government Fees Ordinance Bill

MK Swaid (Hadash) explained his amendment would create a fund for dividing the money and assets a municipality receives from government agencies. He said the bill will also evenly distribute the pool of municipal taxes across all municipalities, despite the fact that the some cities might have put more money into the pool. He said that the tent protesters are calling for this type of communism, which will put an end to the rich cities. He slammed the rich municipalities that are sitting on a combined NIS 1.5 billion surplus and called on them to give that money to the bankrupt Arab villages.

Public Bodies’ Property Tax Money Distribution into Fund Bill

MK Zahalka (Balad) explained his bill is very similar to Swaid’s and called on the government to support both. He noted that his bill is a copy of the governments bill that was never brought up to a vote.

Deputy Finance Minister Cohen (Shas) said it is a good bill with bad timing. He expressed government opposition to the bills and asked Swaid and Zahalka to postpone the vote on the bills to a later date. They both agreed.

Two Amendments to the Real Estate Property Tax Bill

MK Sheetrit (Kadima) explained his amendment would eliminate the purchase tax for buying a first apartment. He stressed the bill would be helpful for new couples.

MK Barakeh (Hadash) explained his similar amendment would reduce the purchase tax, as opposed to eliminating it. He slammed the government for eliminating the selling tax on real estate for a first apartment while keeping the purchase tax in tact. He said that the government is acting like they prefer a sellers’ market as opposed to a buyers’ market.

Deputy Finance Minister Cohen explained that any apartment under NIS 1,139,320 is tax free and for first time home buyers apartments under NIS 1.35 million are tax free until the end of 2012. He called on the Knesset to oppose the two bills since the MKs proposed bills that are already law.

MK Sheetrit explained his bill would not be a temporary order and would not end after 2012 and therefore the Knesset should support the bill.

The first bill was defeated 34-46.

The second bill was defeated 34-46.

Amendment to the Securities Bill

MK Sheetrit said that tycoons who borrow government money and don’t pay it back shouldn’t be allowed to pocket any profits until they pay off their debt to the tax payers. He read off a list of current tycoons who each make millions of shekels a year yet claim their companies don’t have the money to pay back their debt to the government. Prime Minister Netanyahu asked Sheetrit to postpone the vote to let him study the bill personally. Sheetrit agreed.

Amendment to the Value Added Tax Bill

MK Sheetrit explained his amendment would reduce the tax rate on basic food products from 16% to 8%. He said this bill will help the poor afford to feed their children.

Deputy Finance Minister Cohen said that lowering the VAT will help the rich and the poor and therefore it defeats Sheetrit’s purpose. He said there are other methods to assist the poor without giving a tax break to the rich and suggested Sheetrit try
something else.

MK Sheetrit said the benefit of lowering the VAT on a few basic foods will benefit the poor and that outweighs the loss from rich tax payers on this issue.

The bill was defeated 40-48 with two MKs present and not voting (Deputy Speaker Levi-Abekasis (Y.B.) and MK Schneller (Kadima).

Amendment to the ID Card Maintenance and Presenting Bill

MK Bielski (Kadima) explained his amendment would allow a drivers license to be a substitute for the national identification card in all cases. He said that in America people use driver licenses for identification purposes and there is no reason Israel shouldn’t do the same. He agreed to postpone the bill for a week in order to gather more government support.

The Tuesday session lasted about three and a half hours. Four bills were discussed and advanced after passing their first readings. A bill that would provide airline passengers financial compensation for flight cancellations and delays was advanced. Bills that provide entitlements to abused women in shelters, extend the period of time women can press charges for sexual harassment and unite the political parties’ financial reports into one document were advanced as well. The two motions of the day were not voted on.

Non-Bills Summary

* 23 MKs spoke during the one minute speech segment that opened the day. The main topic of discussion was the advancement of two contested bills the night before.

* A motion on the contribution of evangelical Christian organizations to refugees and survivors of the Holocaust was discussed by Speaker Rivlin, 4 MKs and Deputy Minister Nass (Likud).

* A motion on the international Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was discussed by Culture and Sport Minister Livnat (Likud), Deputy Speaker Molla (Kadima) and 8 MKs.

Bills Summary

Amendment to the Sexual Harassment Prevention Bill

MK Hotovely (Likud) stated that since the original bill was passed in 1998 women have been given protection from sexual harassment. She slammed those who wish to pardon former President Katsav, who was convicted of rape. She explained the amendment would extend the statute of limitations for a woman to file a complaint of sexual harassment from three years to four years.

Culture and Sport Minster Livnat (Likud) expressed government support for the bill.

The bill passed its first reading 9-0 and was sent to the Women’s Rights Committee.

Amendment to the Income Support Bill

MK Khenin (Hadash) thanked MK Gal-On for co-sponsoring the bill with him. He revealed that 17 Israeli women have been killed by their husbands over the past year. He added that so far in 2011 12,260 case files have been opened in Israel on domestic abuse. He stated that 200,000 women are beaten by their husbands in Israel. He explained his amendment would provide an entitlement benefit for women during their stay in a battered women’s shelter. He said this bill is a socialist bill that takes care of Israel’s neglected beaten women.

MK Gal-On (Meretz) thanked Khenin for presenting the bill and WIZO for writing the bill for them. She said that this entitlement of NIS 1,632 is just the first step and with more pressure on the government she hopes to increase that amount. She expressed hope that this bill will give women the courage to leave their husbands. She slammed the finance ministry for claiming the bill will cost NIS 3.5 million annually and said that is why women must stay in the shelter for a whole month in order to be eligible for the entitlement.

MK Tibi (R.T.) praised the bill and suggested prohibiting guns in Israel in order to prevent husbands from killing their wives.

Culture and Sport Minster Livnat expressed government support for the bill. She revealed that Netanyahu supports this bill and he will take care of the finance ministry’s opposition to it.

MK Whbee (Kadima) recalled his visits to the shelters and the conversations he has had with the women there. He called for funding more shelters in order to avoid overcrowding. He noted that the city councils are funding the shelters and the government is only supplementing them.

MK Bielski (Kadima) revealed that between 700 and 800 women a year and about 1,000 children leave their homes for 14-15 shelters spread out across Israel. He said the men should be in the shelters locked up and the women should be at home with the kids.

MK Zeev (Shas) supported the bill but said that women need to be encouraged to leave the shelter at a certain point. He wondered if an entitlement would overcrowd the shelters and give women incentive to stay in the shelter longer than they need. He said the focus should be on rehabilitation and not on the entitlement. He said that men who are beaten by their wives have no rights and that is a problem that should be solved soon. He added that even if the husband beats his wife he should be able to see his children and get visiting rights.

MK Ben Ari (N.U.) praised the bill and told stories from his visits to the shelters.

MK Wilf (Independence) said that we should put an end to women who are discriminated against because of religious and traditionalist people. She said that if men can’t be around women they should stay at home. She went on slamming the Orthodox and their prohibitions of women, as well as the prohibitions on touch, singing and so on.

The bill passed its first reading 14-0 and was sent to the Welfare Committee.

Amendment to the Party Funding Bill

MK Maklev (U.T.J.) stated that the political parties are forced by law to release their finances to the State Comptroller, the Speaker of the House and the political parties’ registry. He explained the amendment would report the parties’ accounts to all three in the same document on the same date. He said that all three recipients of the document support the bill. He added that if elections fall within the period of time the document is supposed to be released the due date of the document will be automatically postponed until after the elections.

MK Ben Ari criticized Knesset Channel 99 for never inviting him to an interview. He noted that he cancelled his newspaper subscription to Ha’aretz this week because the paper has moved further towards the slanted extreme left in the last few weeks.

The bill passed its first reading 8-0 and was sent to the House Committee.

Amendment to the Aviation Services Bill

MK Tibi explained his amendment would present airline customers compensation and assistance for flight cancellations or a change in conditions that causes a delay. He said that this is the most talked about bill in the Knesset and it is the most popular bill he has ever written. He said the compensation will be NIS 1,250 for flights less than 2,000 kilometers; NIS 2,000 for flights between 2,000 and 4,500 kilometers; and NIS 3,000 for flights over 4,500 kilometers. He said that downgrading a passenger’s ticket will result in a 50%, 75% or 100% compensation of the ticket price depending on in which one of the three groups from above the passenger falls. He said that during delays the airline must provide passengers with drinks, a sandwich, one free fax, access to emails and two free phone calls. He said the bill also prohibits overbooking flights or postponing flights for no logical reason. He concluded that the purpose of the bill is to defend passengers from the bullying airline companies. He slammed former Finance Committee Chairman Akunis (Likud) for holding the bill in committee for two years.

MK Maklev praised and supported the bill. He stated this is a great consumer protection bill. He called on exempting from the bill airlines that don’t fly on the Jewish Sabbath in order not to place a penalty on those airlines and force them to fly on the Sabbath.

The bill passed its first reading 8-0 and was sent to the Finance Committee.