Israel is currently facing a strategic problem which is threatening our national and Jewish identity and poses a threat to the personal security of all its citizens. Currently there are approximately 200,000 illegal workers (mainly from Africa) who are roaming our streets, looking for work and taking the livelihood of the residents of Israel. This problem is a global one, faced by many democratic countries.
The two bodies charged with protecting the state of Israel, and who are responsible for safeguarding our borders and ensuring no illegal works enter the country, and enforcing the laws preventing the hiring of illegal workers are headed by the Minster of Defense Ehud Barak, and Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. Yet these two individuals, who are failing in their responsibility and are not providing the tools necessary protect our national identity have both been personally involved in hiring illegal workers.
Part of the struggle to eradicate these incidents is to penalize their employers, and the Legal Forum has been acting in order to ensure that justice is served in these cases. An investigation of Minister Barak’s illegal employee was launched and suddenly closed with the feeble excuse that the employee could not be located. However, the Legal Forum appealed to the Supreme Court and all of a sudden the employee miraculously appeared and the investigation was re-opened. It was attorney General Weinstein who recommended that Minister Barak’s spouse, Nili Priel be indicted and not Barak himself, and this raises very serious questions.
It seems that Attorney General Weinstein acted in a conflict of interest in this case, as he was well aware that he was in the same situation himself. After it was discovered that the Attorney General also had an illegal worker in his home, the Attorney General Weinstein was not investigated.
Only following a request from the Legal Forum did the National Immigration Authority announce its decision to open an investigation against him as well. “There is apparently a strong suspicion of a double standard with regard to regular citizens as opposed to those who hold key positions and receive preferential treatment and legal protection that does not exist under normal circumstances,” wrote Attorney Moshe Pollack of the Legal Forum, and highlighted the problems of the relief granted specifically to Attorney General Weinstein who holds the authority to determine the legal policy concerning the enforcement of laws regarding employment of foreign workers.
The Immigration Authority reported that there were relevant considerations for this decision, regardless of Attorney General Weinstein’s status. However, as far as the Legal Forum is concerned, this is not a satisfactory response, and we shall continue to pursue this issue further until justice is served in this case. One of the main objectives of the Legal Forum is to ensure sound government, and in this case, by challenging the legal system to handle a case against the head of the legal system, who is responsible for determining the government policy regarding the employment of foreign workers, we are working to ensure that someone in the extremely vital role of Attorney General must set an example to all others and obey the law as is required by every citizen in the state of Israel.
Only with a determined policy against employers of illegal foreign workers will it be possible to prevent the flooding of the country with hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Africa. This cannot be achieved when the Attorney General employs an illegal migrant worker and is not held accountable for his actions. The mission of the Legal Forum is to continue to strengthen the Jewish identity of the state of Israel and ensure that law enforcement authorities implement their power to protect the citizens of Israel in this vital strategic issue.
