An amendment to the Entry into Israel Law that significantly increases fines and prison sentences for people who transport, accommodate or employ illegal residents passed its second and third (final) readings in the Knesset plenum Monday evening to become law.
Forty-four MKs voted in favor and 16 opposed the legislation which consolidated a government-sponsored bill and a bill that was introduced by MK Mordechai Yogev (HaBayit HaYehudi) last term.
The proposed amendment to the Entry into Israel Law states that a one-time employer of illegal workers will be subject to up to two years in prison. Those who employ more than one illegal worker, or hire an illegal worker for more than 24 hours, will face up to four years.
The bill sets a minimum fine of roughly $2,600 and a maximum of about $58,000 for one-time employers, while for those who employ more than one illegal worker the minimum fine will be $5,200 and the maximum about $77,000. In cases of corporations employing illegal workers regularly, the minimum fine will be $10,400, and the maximum $116,550. It also widens the definition of “employer” to include any person or body that employs or facilitates the stay of illegal residents indirectly, such as contracting companies employing subsidiary companies which, in turn, employ illegal laborers.
The new law, for the first time, enables police to close down for 30 days building sites, restaurants and any other businesses found to be employing illegal residents, and the courts will be able to extend such closures.
The courts will also be given the power to revoke a corporation’s business license and building permits for violating the new amendment.
The explanatory notes accompanying the bill state that “the security situation has deteriorated as of late, including the throwing of bombs, stabbings and terror attacks against the citizens of Israel with knives and other weapons. Moreover, there is involvement of illegal residents in terrorist activities against the citizens of Israel, and the past few years have seen a rise in the number Palestinians who reside in the State of Israel illegally… One of the ways to attack the illegal residents phenomenon is to carry out enforcement measures against those who assist illegal residents – transporters, enablers and employers – who ease the illegal residents’ entry into Israel and their assimilation.”
Before the vote, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said, “Apparently there are Palestinians who think Israel is a place that is not bad at all, but this phenomenon creates very significant dangers, particularly when we are in the midst of a wave of terror carried out by lone [terrorists] who are driven by incitement.”
MK Revital Swid of the Zionist Camp said the faction would support the legislation despite the fact that it “does not provide any [meaningful] tool.” Rather, she said, the bill “illustrates the helplessness of the Likud, the government and the prime minister.”
MK Dov Khenin (Joint Arab List) said the legislation will not reduce the number of illegal residents, “because in the reality of life under Israeli rule in the territories live people who are in a state of poverty and unemployment. People enter Israel [illegally] mainly to bring bread to their families.”
MK Talab Abu Arar (Joint Arab List) said: “Anyone who believes this racist legislation will bring calm or security is either foolish or rude. Less than a year ago we warned from this platform against the continued desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and that the entry of Jews [to the site] would lead to an intifada, and then the intifada began, but no one listened to us. The government said the wave would pass, but do not delude yourselves; this is not a wave, it is an intifada. Now is the right time for the government to acknowledge that the continued occupation, the policy of oppression and the racist legislation increase violence and ignite the region. Those who support this bill are more dangerous to the Palestinians than (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is.”