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Leza L Olson  11/30/2006 08:01:30 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Leza L Olson

Cable 
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UNCLAS        TEL AVIV 04675

SIPDIS
CXTelA:
    ACTION: POL
    INFO:   PD IMO RES ECON DCM ADM DAO IPSC AMB AID RSO
            CONS

DISSEMINATION: POL
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:RHJONES
DRAFTED: POL:ARHOLST
CLEARED: DCM GCRETZ, POL/C MSIEVERS, POL PVROOMAN

VZCZCTVI371
RR RUEHC RUEHXK
DE RUEHTV #4675/01 3331610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291610Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7900
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004675 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB GTIP PHUM IS KCRM KJUS
SUBJECT: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT FOR ISRAEL 
 
REF: STATE 175900 
 
¶1.  (Summary)  The Government of Israel has taken several 
important actions to combat human trafficking since the 2006 
TIP Report was written.  On October 19, it amended Israel's 
trafficking in persons law to include labor trafficking, the 
most serious deficiency noted in the TIP report.  The 
government will also provide legal assistance to victims of 
labor trafficking under a pilot program that will be reviewed 
in two years.  In addition to the new law, the GOI took 
several other steps to address the problem of human 
trafficking.  On May 31 the GOI officially appointed Rachel 
Gershuni from the Ministry of Justice as National Coordinator 
responsible for coordinating the battle against trafficking 
via prosecution and prevention.  The Knesset has tabled the 
United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized 
Crime, and if no objections are raised by Knesset members, 
the Convention will be sent to the Government for 
ratification.  In the area of prosecution, the government 
doubled the number of trafficking cases that it brought to 
court -- all related to prostitution to this point, as the 
impact of the October 19 law has not yet had time to be felt. 
 This report responds to questions posed in reftel.  (End 
Summary.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
Interim Assessment Question 1 -- What progress has Israel 
made in passing and enacting a comprehensive 
anti-trafficking law? 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶2.  The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (Legislative 
Amendments) Law, 5766-2006, was voted upon and approved 
unanimously by the Knesset on October 19, and went into force 
upon its publication on October 29.  The law strengthens and 
broadens penalties for human trafficking, stipulating 
trafficking offenses for the purposes of stealing organs, 
kidnapping newborn children, slavery, forced labor (including 
the taking of passports), prostitution, pornography and 
sexual abuse.  Forced labor is defined as "anyone who forces 
a person to work, by using force or other means of pressure 
or by threat of one of these, or by consent elicited by means 
of fraud, whether or not for consideration."  Slavery is 
defined as "a situation under which powers generally 
exercised towards property are exercised on a person." 
Maximum penalties for several trafficking offenses were 
increased.  The courts were instructed to grant trafficking 
victims compensation to be paid through a dedicated fund to 
be set up for such purposes, and were authorized to hold 
trafficking trials behind closed doors and to prevent the 
publication of details that identify the victims.  The NGO 
Hotline for Migrant Workers (Hotline) called the law 
comprehensive and an important tool in the prevention of 
trafficking in persons.  Hotline said that it would also like 
the charging of fees for job placement without a legal job to 
offer in Israel added to the newly expanded definition of 
trafficking. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
Interim Assessment Question 2 -- What progress has Israel 
made in extending victim protection services to all victims 
of trafficking, including labor TIP victims? 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶3.  The new law amends the existing Legal Aid Law to provide 
legal aid to all victims of trafficking and slavery, 
including those trafficked for the purpose of labor. 
Previously, legal aid was accorded only to victims of 
trafficking for the purpose of prostitution.  Victims do not 
have to meet economic criteria to receive the aid.  The 
expanded legal aid program will be reviewed in September 
¶2008.  NGOs such as Hotline for Migrant Workers and Kav 
La'Oved responded positively to the new law's victim 
protection framework, but did criticize the law's allocation 
of confiscated property and fines from traffickers to the 
government rather than directly to the victims. 
 
On March 30, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the State to 
establish within six months a new employment arrangement that 
will allow foreign workers to change employers without losing 
their legal status.  In response, on September 12 the 
Government adopted Resolutions 447 and 448, which set new 
methods for employing foreign workers in the fields of 
nursing and agriculture that are designed to provide the 
workers with increased protections and simplify the process 
under which they can change employers.  A GOI contact said 
that the government hopes to complete the changes to the laws 
and regulations by April 2007. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
Interim Assessment Question 3 -- What progress has Israel 
made in increasing criminal investigations and prosecutions 
against suspected traffickers, including those engaged in 
practices related to involuntary servitude? 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶4.  Through October 1, the police conducted 282 criminal 
investigations on trafficking in persons for the purpose of 
prostitution and related offenses, and GOI brought 27 new 
trafficking cases to court, a 50% rise in prosecutions in 
comparison to 2005.  The Government acknowledges documented 
abuse of some foreign workers, but cites a lack of exact 
statistics with regards to victims of trafficking for labor, 
and stated that "there are few cases in which the abuse 
amounts to slavery or forced labor."  Estimates on the extent 
of the labor trafficking problem vary greatly, with some NGOs 
claiming hundreds (slavery) and thousands (forced labor) of 
labor trafficking victims.  No reliable empirical evidence is 
available to support either the Government or NGO estimates. 
The impact of the new law on investigation and prosecution of 
cases and practices related to involuntary servitude is not 
yet known. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
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