The Economic Efficiency Law
10 Discriminatory Laws
The Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Implementing the Economic Plan for 2009-2010) (2009).
a. A section of this law concerns "National Priority Areas" (NPAs). It grants the government sweeping discretion to classify towns, villages and areas as NPAs and to allocate enormous state resources without criteria, in contradiction to the Israeli Supreme Court's 2006 decision in HCJ 2773/98 and HCJ 11163/03, The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel v. The Prime Minister of Israel. This decision ruled unconstitutional a government decision from 1998 which classified 553 Jewish towns as NPAs and only 4 small Arab villages as such.
b. A further section of this law concerns the distribution of "child allowances". Under the new law, children who do not receive the vaccinations recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH) will no longer be provided with financial support. This provision mainly affects Arab Bedouin children living in the Naqab (Negev), since most of the children who do not receive the vaccinations come from this group. Thus, the provision discriminates against them on the basis of their national belonging. To note, that the MOH recently closed down "mother and child" clinics in three Arab Bedouin towns which provide these vaccinations.
a. A section of this law concerns "National Priority Areas" (NPAs). It grants the government sweeping discretion to classify towns, villages and areas as NPAs and to allocate enormous state resources without criteria, in contradiction to the Israeli Supreme Court's 2006 decision in HCJ 2773/98 and HCJ 11163/03, The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel v. The Prime Minister of Israel. This decision ruled unconstitutional a government decision from 1998 which classified 553 Jewish towns as NPAs and only 4 small Arab villages as such.
b. A further section of this law concerns the distribution of "child allowances". Under the new law, children who do not receive the vaccinations recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH) will no longer be provided with financial support. This provision mainly affects Arab Bedouin children living in the Naqab (Negev), since most of the children who do not receive the vaccinations come from this group. Thus, the provision discriminates against them on the basis of their national belonging. To note, that the MOH recently closed down "mother and child" clinics in three Arab Bedouin towns which provide these vaccinations.