This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000914 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP: GAYATRI PATEL; NEA/IPA: JOSHUA DAVIS; 
NEA/RA: JOHN MENARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB IS ISRAELI SOCIETY GOI INTERNAL
SUBJECT: ISRAEL: SIXTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
(2 OF 4) 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 03836 
     ¶B. TEL AVIV 596 
 
(SBU) This cable forms the second part of a four-part message 
in response to reftel A.  Embassy point of contact is poloff 
James Miller, phone (972)3-519-7437, fax (972)3-519-7484. 
 
-- D. To what extent does the government systematically 
monitor its anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts -- 
prosecution, prevention and victim protection) and 
periodically make available, publicly or privately and 
directly or through regional/international organizations, its 
assessments of these  anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
The GOI does not systematically monitor its anti-trafficking 
efforts.  The MOJ requests every year that relevant 
government ministries report their anti-trafficking efforts. 
The MOJ then compiles the information in consolidated, 
detailed form and shares it with U.S. Embassy personnel in 
preparation for the State Department TIP report. 
 
The Knesset Permanent Inquiry Committee on Trafficking in 
Persons, chaired by MK Za'hava Gal-On, also regularly 
addresses TIP issues and developments in a public forum.  In 
March 2005, the Committee published its report for the years 
2000 - 2004.  In January 2006, the Committee published a 
report regarding the implementation of its recommendations by 
the relevant government agencies.  In addition, the press 
frequently publishes stories on trafficking and prostitution 
and cites government sources. 
 
The MOJ Internet site includes information on trafficking and 
GOI efforts to combat it.  MOJ officials say that they 
publicized this site during the year.  In August 2005, in 
preparation for the "Week of the Battle Against Trafficking 
in Israel," the Committee, together with the Knesset's 
Research and Information Center, produced a fact sheet on the 
battle against trafficking in women.  The MOJ distributed 
this fact sheet to all government ministries, police units 
and law enforcement authorities. 
 
A government official, however, stated in Februrary 2005 to 
the Knesset Committee on Trafficking that "no serious 
research as been conducted into (trafficking), no one has 
ever checked this in an orderly fashion, and it may be that 
the time for this has come." 
 
-------------------- 
¶3.  (SBU) PREVENTION 
-------------------- 
 
-- A. Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a 
problem in that country?  If no, why not? 
 
The GOI acknowledges the problem of sex trafficking in 
Israel.  The government also now acknowledges the problem of 
labor trafficking in Israel, as detailed in its report to the 
Embassy on trafficking and in public hearings of the Knesset 
Committee on Foreign Workers. 
 
-- B. Which government agencies are involved in anti- 
trafficking efforts and which agency, if any, has the lead? 
 
The main agencies involved in anti-trafficking efforts 
include the INP; the Counseling and Legislation Department in 
the MOJ; the foreign workers department in the Ministry of 
Industry, Trade and Labor; the Crime Unit in the Immigration 
Administration (IA); and the Population Registry in the 
Ministry of the Interior. 
 
-- C. Are there, or have there been, government-run anti- 
trafficking information or education campaigns?  If so, 
briefly describe the campaign(s), including their objectives 
and effectiveness.  Do these campaigns target potential 
trafficking victims and/or the demand for trafficking (e.g. 
"clients" of prostitutes or beneficiaries of forced labor). 
 
The government initiated or continued several public 
education campaigns as detailed below. 
-- Sex Trafficking: In December 2004, the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs (MFA), in collaboration with the MOJ, NGOs and civil 
society activists, began an information campaign in source 
countries of TIP for the purpose of prostitution.  The MFA 
printed brochures in Russian warning of the dangers of TIP 
and distributed these brochures through Israeli embassies and 
consulates in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 
Uzbekistan and other source countries.  While the NGOs 
associated with this process claimed that the number of 
brochures proved insufficient to reach potentially vulnerable 
foreigners, the GOI claims to have received positive feedback 
about the brochures from the countries of origin.  To 
buttress this campaign, the MOJ website has posted 
descriptions of TIP, of efforts to combat TIP, and of 
characteristics of and approaches used by persons usually 
involved in these activities. 
 
In 2005, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports ran 
several programs targeting the issue of trafficking in 
persons for prostitution.  The Ministry trained instructors 
and tutors in the Youth Advancement Department about the 
issue of prostitution, and trained teachers to deal with 
gender education, mutual respect, and the treatment of women 
trafficked for prostitution.  The Ministry also reports that 
it designed and implemented a new educational unit entitled, 
"It's not Sex ) it's causing harm," as part of the 
curriculum on issues pertaining to Basic Law: Human Dignity 
and Liberty.  In 2006, GOI officials report, a joint team 
with members from the Ministries of Justice; Education, 
Culture and Sports; and the Union of Local Authorities, will 
implement a specific educational unit in high schools focused 
on prostitution and trafficking in women. 
 
-- Labor trafficking: The ITL Ministry posted on its website 
in 15 languages a brochure ("zchuton") stipulating the labor 
rights of foreign workers in Israel, including the contact 
information for the workers' ombudswoman.  Officials in the 
Interior Ministry say they began in 2006 distributing these 
brochures to workers as they arrive in Ben Gurion Airport. 
The ITL Ministry also reports that it distributed tailored 
brochures in English, Russian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Thai and 
Chinese to workers in the construction sector explaining 
their special rights and obligations; the ITL Ministry 
reports that it has obligated the 42 manpower companies to 
distribute these brochures to their workers, and requires 
them to sign an affidavit affirming that they have done so. 
The IA has also printed the workers' rights brochure in 15 
languages and posted it inside immigrant detention centers. 
In addition, the ITL Ministry held a series of seminars to 
train the inspectors it sends to worksites to recognize cases 
of labor exploitation and to take special steps in handling 
such cases. 
 
The government did not sponsor anti-trafficking campaigns 
directed at the Israeli public or brothel patrons. 
 
-- D. Does the government support other programs to prevent 
trafficking? (e.g., to promote women's participation in 
economic decision-making or efforts to keep children in 
school.)  Please explain. 
 
The GOI sponsored its officials during 2005 to participate in 
and/or deliver presentations at several international 
conferences related to trafficking in persons.  Officials and 
representatives from religious communities, the Organization 
for International Migration (IOM), the Ukraine, as well as 
Israeli and foreign NGOs attended these conferences. 
 
The de facto coordinator continued to follow closely 
individual cases of sex trafficking, and persistently 
initiated meetings with GOI officials in order to facilitate 
communication and coordination.  She met with the state 
attorney, the deputy state attorney for criminal matters, the 
deputy state attorney for labor disputes, as well as 
officials in the Ministry of the Interior and the INP. 
 
The GOI appointed a liaison in the state attorney's Office to 
address problems and complaints related to trafficking 
victims in cooperation with the de facto coordinator.  In 
addition, the state attorney,s office instituted a formal 
procedure by which every six months all the heads of 
departments in the state attorney's Office will convene a 
meeting with the de facto coordinator to address trafficking 
issues. 
 
The GOI also held October 30, 2005 in the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs a formal meeting to discuss the U.S. State Department 
Anti-Trafficking Report and learn from it.  The government 
aims to continue this practice in the future. 
 
-- F. What is the relationship between government officials, 
NGOs, other relevant organizations and other elements of 
civil society on the trafficking issue? 
 
-- Sex Trafficking:  NGOs met with officials in all of the 
main agencies involved in anti-trafficking efforts and 
described positive working relationships with many of their 
interlocutors.  The de facto TIP coordinator met regularly 
with NGO representatives to discuss ways of working together 
more effectively and to exchange information and ideas.  NGO 
workers collaborated particularly with officials in the MOJ 
and the INP.  In general, NGO representatives note that 
junior officials proved far less cooperative than did senior 
officials, and officials at the local level proved more 
difficult than did those at the national level.  NGOs also 
found it difficult to communicate with some representatives 
of the Ministry of Interior and of the IA. 
 
-- Labor Trafficking: The director of the Department of 
Foreign Workers in the ITL Ministry met periodically with 
representatives of NGOs, and the ministry's enforcement 
division investigated complaints filed by workers and their 
NGO representatives.  (Note: The GOI established the ITL 
Ministry's foreign workers department in May 2003.  The 
Ministry situated its enforcement division within the foreign 
workers department.  End note.)  The crime unit of the IA 
claimed that it has been working closely since its inception 
with NGOs to investigate allegations made by the 
organizations, an assessment that NGO representatives 
dispute.  GOI officials say that they have formulated a 
procedure for collaboration between the enforcement division 
of the ITL Ministry and the crime unit of the IA.  According 
to the GOI, this procedure facilitates swift execution of 
employer investigations while safeguarding foreign workers, 
rights. 
 
NGO representatives claim that they had a different 
experience in working with two different groups of government 
officials, those fighting labor trafficking and those 
fighting sex trafficking.  The NGO workers say they found 
officials fighting sex trafficking to be more cooperative. 
Officials combating labor trafficking, NGOs maintain, do not 
often welcome NGO interference because they seek first to 
protect employers, sometimes at the expense of their workers. 
 Most importantly, according to NGOs, these officials direct 
enforcement measures primarily against the workers, by 
arresting and deporting trafficking victims instead of their 
traffickers and employers. 
 
NGO representatives lectured during the year to members of 
the police, including investigators. 
 
-- G. Does it monitor immigration and emigration patterns for 
evidence of trafficking?  Do law enforcement agencies screen 
for potential trafficking victims along borders? 
 
Both the Ministry of the Interior and the IA compile data on 
immigration/emigration patterns and trends, which they share 
with police intelligence and Border Police officials.  The 
Ramon Border Police Unit screens for potential trafficking 
victims along Israel,s southern border with Egypt.  In 2005, 
this special unit caught 345 Israelis and foreign nationals 
infiltrating illegally through the Egyptian border into 
Israel, including 45 women trafficked for prostitution or 
smuggled for housework.  The IDF soldiers who guard Israel,s 
border with Jordan do not screen for trafficking victims, nor 
do the soldiers who guard Israel,s northern borders with 
Syria and Lebanon; the police and NGOs do not believe, 
however, that many victims enter Israel through these 
borders. 
 
-- H. Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication 
between various agencies, internal, international, and 
multilateral on trafficking- related matters, such as a 
multi- agency working group or a task force?  Does the 
government have a trafficking in persons working group or 
single point of contact?  Does the government have a public 
corruption task force? 
 
The GOI has not established an anti-trafficking task force, 
but the GOI has re-established an inter-ministerial committee 
to address both labor and sex trafficking.  Chair of the 
Knesset Committee on Trafficking Zahava Galon proposed in 
2005 the creation of a special agency to address trafficking, 
and plans to draft legislation to establish this agency. 
 
The government approved in May funding for two inter-agency 
TIP coordinators, one for sex trafficking and one for labor 
trafficking, to coordinate work between government 
departments and between the government and NGOs.  The 
coordinators will report to a committee of directors general 
of relevant governmental agencies, headed by the director 
general of the MOJ. 
 
By the end of the reporting period, the government had failed 
to appoint the coordinators, assign office space, and fund an 
assistant.  NGOs say that, without an assistant, the 
coordinators will not be able to handle the workload.  The de 
facto coordinator continues to work in her unofficial 
capacity, without an assistant, and while holding a full-time 
job in the MOJ unrelated to her work as the trafficking 
coordinator. 
 
-- J. Does the government have a national plan of action to 
address trafficking in persons?  If so, which agencies were 
involved in developing it?  Were NGOs consulted in the 
process?  What steps has the government taken to disseminate 
the action plan? 
 
-- Sex trafficking: The government does not have a national 
plan of action to address trafficking in persons.  GOI 
officials maintain that the recommendations of the 
inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee in 2002 still 
serve as the basis for a national action plan.  The GOI 
reports that, during 2005, it implemented four of these 
recommendations, by conducting information campaigns, closing 
premises used for prostitution and trafficking, training 
government officials, and improving coordination among 
government agencies. 
 
-- Labor Trafficking: The Government claims that several of 
the attorney general,s 2004 decisions form the basis for a 
national plan to combat labor trafficking.  NGOs laud these 
efforts, but aver that they do not constitute a "national 
plan" as such.  The government decided in 2004 (1) to hire an 
attorney for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor to 
coordinate investigations of serious labor infractions for 
foreign workers and to cancel the employment permits of any 
employer found to have committed such violations; (2) to hire 
a jurist as an ombudsman for foreign workers' rights within 
the Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor; (3) and to amend 
section 66 of the Employment Service Law to raise the penalty 
for collecting illegal recruitment fees from foreign workers. 
 
 
In what Committee leaders described as an attempt to lead and 
inform public policy on the issue of trafficking in foreign 
workers, the Knesset Committee on Foreign Workers has held 
public hearings on the following issues: overall policy 
towards foreign workers in Israel; employment policy towards 
foreign workers in industry, construction, agriculture, and 
nursing-care; possible establishment of a national 
Immigration Authority to provide more power to the current 
Immigration Administration (IA); IA enforcement measures 
concerning foreign workers; female migrant workers as rape 
victims; and the collection policy regarding fines 
administered upon foreign workers' employers. 
 
In 2005, the government implemented all of these decisions. 
It did not, however, re-assess the situation and create a new 
plan during the year to address the persistent problem of 
labor trafficking. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶4.  (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
-- A. Does the country have a law specifically prohibiting 
trafficking in persons--both trafficking for sexual 
exploitation and trafficking for non- sexual purposes (e.g. 
forced labor)? If so, what is the law?  Does the law(s) cover 
both internal and external (transnational) forms of 
trafficking? If not, under what other laws can traffickers be 
prosecuted?  For example, are there laws against slavery or 
the exploitation of prostitution by means of coercion or 
fraud?  Are these other laws being used in trafficking cases? 
 Are these laws, taken together, adequate to cover the full 
scope of trafficking in persons?  Please provide a full 
inventory of trafficking laws, including civil penalties, 
(e.g., civil forfeiture laws and laws against illegal debt). 
 
-- Sex trafficking:  Section 203(a) of the Penal Law, enacted 
in July 2000, prohibits trafficking in persons for the 
purposes of sexual exploitation.  According to the GOI, an 
indictment based on trafficking might also include charges 
such as rape, false imprisonment, retaining a passport, 
forced labor, exploitation of prostitution by means of 
coercion or fraud, or kidnapping for the purposes of 
prostitution.  Judgments have typically reflected a narrow 
interpretation of the law, but court cases rendered in the 
summer of 2003 clarified that trafficking cases should not be 
narrowly construed.  Section 431 of the Penal Law prohibits 
exploitation and declares it punishable by one year of 
imprisonment.  Section 376A of the Penal Law renders 
withholding a passport illegal and punishable by one year of 
imprisonment.  Section 376 of the Penal Law prohibits forced 
labor and renders it punishable by one year of imprisonment. 
Sections 415 and 440 of the Penal Law prohibit fraud and deem 
it punishable by up to five years imprisonment.  The law for 
the prevention of infiltration (1954) prohibits the smuggling 
of persons across Israeli borders and carries a punishment of 
up to five years imprisonment. 
 
The Knesset passed in April the Law Limiting Use of Premises 
in order to Prevent the Commission of Crimes, 5765 ) 2005, 
which provides to the police and the courts authority to 
limit the use of properties that previously served as 
brothels if there is a reasonable basis to suspect that they 
will continue to serve that purpose.  The Magistrates' Court 
in Be'er Sheva ordered September 6 the closing for a period 
of 90 days of premises that had served for the purposes of 
prostitution, after the judges reviewed evidence indicating 
that the premises would continue to serve those purposes. 
The GOI argues that this law provides law enforcement 
authorities an important tool to battle trafficking, as it 
authorizes the continual closure of premises to which women 
have been trafficked. 
 
The government submitted a bill to the Knesset that allows 
one judge, instead of a bench of three judges, to hear 
criminal trials regarding trafficking in persons.  This bill 
would expedite trafficking cases, as in the past the 
necessity to convene three judges consistently caused delays. 
 The bill has passed its first of three readings. 
 
-- Labor trafficking:  Since Israeli law does not prohibit 
labor trafficking, the police may arrest and prosecute 
traffickers for violating the Foreign Workers Law, Minimum 
Wage Law, the Annual Leave Law, and the Protection of Wages 
Law.  Section 376 of the Penal Law forbids the confiscation 
of passports.  The Law of Employment of Workers by Employment 
Agencies prohibits employers from charging workers fees in 
exchange for their employment.  The Foreign Workers Law 
prohibits employers from, among other activities, hiring a 
foreign worker without providing the worker a detailed 
contract, medical insurance, proper lodging, and a detailed 
pay slip.  Israel also has laws against slavery, fraud, 
smuggling, abductions, and threatening violence. 
In November, a comprehensive law to forbid all forms of 
trafficking, including for the purpose of labor exploitation, 
passed its first reading in the Knesset.  The present law 
carries a maximum sentence of 16 years, and 20 years in cases 
where the victim is a minor, for those who traffic human 
beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation.  The new law 
proposes to extend this high maximum sentence to those 
convicted of trafficking humans for the purposes of slavery 
(including forced labor, exploitation, locking up and 
extortion) or removing body organs. 
 
-- B. What are the penalties for traffickers of people for 
sexual exploitation?  For traffickers of people for labor 
exploitation? 
 
-- Sex trafficking: Under section 203(a) of the Penal Code, a 
person selling or buying another person to engage in 
prostitution can be sentenced to up to 16 years.  Anyone 
causing a person to leave his or her country of residence to 
engage in prostitution may receive to up to 10 years 
imprisonment.  If the victim is a minor, the penalties are 20 
years and 15 years respectively. 
 
During the year, courts imposed tougher sentences for 
trafficking in women than previously, but these sentences 
remained significantly lighter than the maximum allowable 
prison sentences.  According to the GOI, the courts imposed 
an average sentence of eight to ten years, an increase from 
an average in 2002 of one to three years.  Since the Knesset 
passed the anti-trafficking law in 2000, judges have 
sentenced sex traffickers, on average, to six years in prison 
with a two-year suspended sentence. 
 
-- Labor trafficking:  The GOI does not currently prosecute 
labor traffickers because the law does not specifically 
address this offense.  When the IA or ITL Ministry discover 
employers violating labor laws, they most often seek to fine 
the employers (for an average of approximately $2,200 (10,000 
NIS) per employer).  Judges can sentence violators of the 
Foreign Worker's Law, the Minimum Wage Law, and the 
Confiscation of Passports Law to up to one year in prison, 
while violators of the Smuggling law may receive up to five 
years. 
 
-- C. What are the penalties for rape or forcible sexual 
assault?  How do they compare to the penalty for sex 
trafficking? 
 
The penalties for trafficking equal those for rape and sexual 
assault.  The maximum penalty for rape is 16 years in jail. 
If under aggravated circumstances, the maximum penalty 
increases to 20 years. 
 
-- D. Is prostitution legalized or decriminalized? 
Specifically, are the activities of the prostitute 
criminalized?  Are the activities of the brothel 
owner/operator, clients, pimps, and enforcers criminalized? 
Are these laws enforced? If prostitution is legal and 
regulated, what is the legal minimum age for this activity? 
Note that in many countries with federalist systems, 
prostitution laws may be covered by state, local, and 
provincial authorities. 
 
The law does not prohibit prostitution, but it does not 
expressly legalize it.  The GOI reports that it has not 
criminalized the activities of the prostitute because, 
according to government officials, it views the prostitute as 
a victim.  Minors below the age of 18 may not legally engage 
in prostitution.  NGOs claim the government does not enforce 
this law. 
 
The government has criminalized the activities of brothel 
owners and operators, pimps and enforcers, all of whom profit 
from prostitution through pandering for the purpose of 
prostitution, causing a person to engage in one or more acts 
of prostitution, maintaining premises for the purpose of 
prostitution, and publicizing the prostitution services of 
minors.  The law permits publicizing the prostitution 
services of adults under certain limited conditions.  The law 
does not establish a legal minimum age for prostitution and 
does not distinguish between prostitution laws in local or 
regional authorities.  .  The following list includes 
relevant sections of the Penal Code and the maximum 
punishments for each offense. 
 
Section 199 and 199(b) - Pandering for the purpose of 
prostitution: five years imprisonment and seven years when 
the victim is a spouse or child. 
 
Section 201 - Causing a person to perform an act of 
prostitution: five years imprisonment. 
 
Section 202 - Causing a person to engage in prostitution: 
seven years imprisonment. 
 
Section 203(b) - Causing a person to engage in prostitution 
under aggravated circumstances: 16 years imprisonment. 
 
Section 204 - Maintaining a place for the purpose of 
prostitution: five years imprisonment. 
 
During the year, the state attorney instructed the police and 
prosecutors to address violations of these laws more 
aggressively.  NGOs say the previous instructions proved too 
lenient, and that the police and prosecutors should play a 
more active role in fighting the Israeli sex industry, which 
produces demand for trafficked women. 
 
NGOs also aver that enforcement of these laws differed from 
region to region, depending on local initiative. 
 
In 2005, the Knesset Committee on Trafficking stated its 
support for the criminalization of clients of trafficked 
women, and requested the Knesset's Research and Information 
Center to disseminate a document providing background on 
existing research in Israel and worldwide.  In a Committee 
session, the Attorney General stated that he will not rule 
out the possibility of prosecuting clients, but that this 
step requires a cautious process of legislation.  He added 
that the Committee must examine the effectiveness of 
criminalization, and that the government must consider police 
priorities and the limited resources available to the INP. 
 
-- E. Has the Government prosecuted any cases against 
traffickers?  If so, provide numbers of investigations, 
prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, including details 
on plea bargains and fines, if relevant and available.  Are 
the traffickers serving the time sentenced:  If no, why not? 
Please indicate whether the government can provide this 
information, and if not, why not? (Note:  complete answers to 
this section are essential. End Note) 
 
-- Sex trafficking:  In 2005, the police conducted 327 
criminal investigations of trafficking in persons for the 
purpose of prostitution, as well as related offences such as 
pandering, causing a person to engage in prostitution, 
soliciting prostitution, and kidnapping.  The police arrested 
78 people for trafficking in persons for the purpose of 
prostitution and related offenses; the state detained 18 of 
these suspects without bail until the conclusion of their 
trials.  The police conducted several raids on brothels, 
mostly employing Israeli women.  Police officials attribute 
the general decrease in trafficking arrests at the border to 
their heightened activity over the past two years. 
 
The state attorney secured 31 convictions in trafficking and 
related offences.  In a noteworthy case, the judges sentenced 
two defendants to 18 years and 10 years of imprisonment, 
following their trial on charges of trafficking in persons 
for the purpose of prostitution, false imprisonment, 
pandering, rape and abduction in order to cause harm or for 
sexual abuse.  In another case, judges sentenced, through a 
plea bargain, two defendants to 14 years and 10.5 years of 
imprisonment, following their trial on charges of organized 
crime, money laundering, causing a person the leave his 
country for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, 
trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution, and 
inducement to prostitution under aggravated circumstances. 
 
The state also won a significant case against a lawyer who 
attempted to induce a victim to testify falsely to the 
benefit of a trafficker. He was convicted on September 29. 
GOI officials believe that this case provides a strong 
deterrent to lawyers who seek to represent traffickers as 
well as their victims.  The de facto coordinator, the Hotline 
for Migrant Workers, and the Israeli Bar Association's Status 
of Women Committee have all asked the Ethics Committee of the 
Bar Association to act against lawyers who represent both 
traffickers and their victims.  In response to the 
coordinator,s request, members of the Ethics Committee of 
the Bar Association held a special meeting in 2005, during 
which they stated a clear policy that forbids lawyers from 
engaging in this practice.  In the future, lawyers who 
represent both a trafficker and his/her victim will face 
punishment from the Bar Association ranging from a reprimand, 
to a fine, suspension, or disbarment. 
 
The GOI and NGOs concur that convicted traffickers generally 
serve their full time sentenced in jail. 
 
NGO workers complain that a high number of trafficking cases 
end in plea bargains. 
 
-- Labor trafficking: During the year, the enforcement 
division of the ITL Ministry reports that it collected from 
employers wages owed to their foreign workers amounting to 
approximately $839,038 (3,775,671 NIS).  The division claims 
it inspected 30,883 employers, revoked 227 permits allowing 
employers to hire foreign workers, opened 4,227 files against 
employers suspected of violating foreign worker employment 
laws, and imposed 8,356 administrative fines on employers, 
totaling $29,242,666 (131,592,000 NIS).  Fined employers paid 
a total of approximately $3,764,494 (16,940,226 NIS) directly 
to the Foreign Workers' Department of the ITL Ministry, and 
paid the Center for the Collection of Fines approximately 
$3,296,512.  In total, the government collected approximately 
$7,061,006 (31,774,532 NIS), or 24 percent of the fines 
issued.  During a December 20 session of the Knesset 
Committee on Foreign Workers, the head of the Foreign 
Worker's Unit at the ITL Ministry stated, "The bottom line in 
terms of enforcement is very depressing in regards to 
collecting fines. In 2004 ) 2005, we handed out $48 million 
(220 million NIS) in fines, and only $4.8 million (22 million 
NIS) were actually collected."  The GOI claims it failed to 
collect sums owed mostly due to insufficient details provided 
by foreign workers regarding the employer (only a first name, 
for instance, or a city of residence), or due to the debtor's 
financial state. 
 
In 2005, the Crime Unit of the IA investigated 198 manpower 
companies on suspicion of fraud relating to foreign workers. 
The government revoked the hiring licenses of 12 of these 
companies, and is in the process of revoking the licenses of 
36 additional companies.    It filed indictments in 133 
cases.  In one case, judges sentenced four defendants' to 
terms ranging from seven to 13 months', plus a suspended 
sentence, for aggravated assaulted of foreign workers under 
their employment. 
 
Also during the year, the enforcement division of the ITL 
Ministry ITL Ministry filed 208 criminal indictments against 
employers, including manpower companies, for violations of 
labor laws.  The division filed three additional indictments 
due to violation of the foreign worker provisions of the 
Minimum Wage Law of 1987.  Between January and October, the 
government won a total of 38 judgments against violators, and 
imposed a total sum in criminal fines of approximately 
$1,631,311. At the end of the year, the government did not 
have data on the percentage of these fines collected. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
JONES