Slippery Slope

The Ministry of Interior has been charging higher fees than those stipulated by law for processing freedom of information requests regarding family reunification requests by residents of East Jerusalem. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

On June 14, the Interior Ministry issued a regulation according to which an Israeli citizen can only apply to arrange residency status for a foreign-born partner if the latter entered the country legally. This regulation affects couples of Israelis and African refugees, threatening the refugees with imprisonment or deportation. On September 13, the regulation was rescinded following several petitions submitted to the courts and the Ministry of Inteior, but the affected couples were not informed of the change.

Seven government offices, including the Prime Minister’s Office, did not publish an annual report, as mandated by the Freedom of Information Act, even though the reports should have been published in July.

(Hebrew – News1)

Knesset Member Tzipi Livni (head of Kadima) today enforced factional discipline, in order to force the Party to vote YES on the bill proposed by Marina Solodkin (Kadima). The bill says that a daily newspaper which exceeds 40% of the national distribution cannot be offered for free, but rather it must be sold for a pay. The bill, which was objected in the Committee of Ministers on Legislation, will be brought tomorrow for pre-reading.

The Budget Department of the Ministry of Treasury refuses to provide the members of Knesset with the detailed state budget for 2011-2012. Treasury has refused requests requests to view the detailed budget to the cabinet minister responsible for improving services to the public, Michael Eitan, and to another minister. Treasury Minister Yuval Steinitz and Treasury Budget Department Chief Udi Nissan claim that publishing the budget at this time would ignite disputes that would make it harder to get the final approval for the budget. The Freedom of Information Movement also asked the Treasury for the budget, but Annette Kleiman, who is responsible for freedom of information at the Treasury, said that “the proposed budget cannot be sent out today, as it is not a final budget, which has passed a second and third vote at the Knesset.” (Hebrew)

The Ministry of the Interior refuses to deliver its internal audit reports to the Association of Local Authority Controllers. The municipal controllers have filed an appeal on this issue to the Magistrate’s Court in Jerusalem, arguing that “by force of the public’s right to know, the Ministry has no right to deny the public access to the audit reports, nor the right to peruse them.” The municipal controllers stated that “over the years we have been running across great difficulties regarding the professional functioning of the Ministry of the Interior, in its contacts with use. People who are responsible for working with us refrained from taking action. We are now seeking resources that will confirm our claims that something is happening in the Ministry of the Interior which is not good, and help us lead steps that will lead to a change.” (Hebrew)