The Public Petitions Committee headed by MK Rabbi Israel Eichler (UTJ) on Wednesday debated repeated requests by foreign residents who encounter many difficulties when they try to convert their foreign driver’s licenses to an Israeli license. To date, foreign residents have been receiving—for a fee—a paper permit without a photo, for six months only. They must also pass a road test, even though they hold a valid foreign driver’s license. At the end of the six month period they must again shuffle over to the DMV, stand in long lines, pay an additional fee, and receive a renewed paper permit, no picture, for another six months.
In addition, if the foreign resident has not renewed their temporary permit for a year, they must retake the road test. This is the case as well for foreigners who learned to drive in Israel, but since they are not Israeli are only entitled to the temporary paper permit.
Foreign applicants have complained that the paper permit is not recognized by police in foreign countries. They also face discrimination when attempting to rent a car in Israel.
The Deputy Director of licensing at the Transportation Ministry told the committee that the reason for the temporary permits is the need to prevent illegal migrants from presenting their licenses as proof of their legal status. Otherwise, the permit is valid in Israel in every respect.
Committee Chairman Eichler said that it is not right to discriminate between a citizen and a tourist in respect to their driver’s license. The security issue does not justify restricting the freedom of tourists, students and temporary residents, and it harms Israeli tourism.
To guard against the misuse of licenses by illegal migrants, a standard license can be issued to the non-citizen, with the proviso that it is only valid when presented together with a valid passport.
A Representative of the Transportation Ministry proposed a collaboration with the Interior Ministry, to allow Transportation to check the validity of a visa with the census records. This would enable them to issue a driver’s license until the applicant’s visa expires.
MK Eichler asked both Transportation and Interior Ministries to speed up the procedures. The committee will convene in a month to review the implementation of its recommendation.