EMBASSY TEL AVIV'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 36 TEL AVIV 000466



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TAGS: PHUM, ASEC, KTIP, KCRM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, PREF, ELAB, IS,

KPAL, CE, CH, EG, EI, IN, MD, NP, RO, RP, RS, TH, TU, UK, UP, UZ



SUBJECT: EMBASSY TEL AVIV'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE NINTH ANNUAL

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT



REF: 2008 STATE 132759



1. This cable is Embassy Tel Aviv's contribution to the

Department's ninth annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.

Embassy Tel Aviv POC for this report is Alan Holst, 972-3-519-7437,

holstar@state.gov. In addition to this cable, the complete GOI and

NGO responses will be emailed to relevant Department of State POCs

for Israel as identified in 2008 State 132759.



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2. THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION

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A1. What is (are) the source(s) of available information on

trafficking in persons?



Sources for information include the Government of Israel (GOI) whose

efforts are led by the National Coordinator for Anti-Trafficking

Efforts in the Ministry of Justice (the National Coordinator),

Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Amnesty International Israel,

Hotline for Migrant Workers (Hotline),Kav LaOved, Isha L'Isha-Haifa

Feminist Center (Isha L'Isha),The Center for International

Migration and Integration (CIMI),The Association of Rape Crisis

Centers in Israel (ACRI),Mesila - the Assistance and Information

Center for Foreign Workers (Mesila),and Choosing Freedom, a joint

venture run by Hotline, Isha L'Isha, and ACRI.



A2. What plans are in place (if any) to undertake further

documentation of human trafficking?



Post does not anticipate additional input from local sources.



A3. How reliable are these sources?



These sources are very reliable.



B1. Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or destination

for internationally trafficked men, women, or children?



Israel is a country of destination for trafficking for the purposes

of labor and prostitution. Israel is not considered a country of

origin for trafficking, although media and NGO reports suggest a few

Israeli women were trafficked to other countries for the purpose of

prostitution.



B2. Does trafficking occur within the country's borders?



Yes.



B3. If so, does internal trafficking occur in territory outside of

the government's control (e.g. in a civil war situation)?



No.



B4. To where are people trafficked?



Media and NGO reports charged that a small number of Israeli women

were trafficked to the UK and Ireland in 2008 for the purpose of

prostitution.



B5. For what purposes are they trafficked?



People are trafficked to Israel for the purposes of labor and

prostitution.



B6. Provide, where possible, numbers or estimates for each group of

trafficking victims.



According to the GOI, there has been a sharp decline in recent years

in the number of women trafficked to Israel for prostitution, citing

a decline in the number of trafficking victims located by law

enforcement agencies and by he Knesset Subcommittee on Trafficking.

The GOI reported that 12 trafficking victims for prostitution were

transferred by the Police to the Maagan Shelter in 2008, but that

most of them were trafficked several years ago. In 2008, there were

44 trafficked women (six were trafficked for labor) in the Maagan

Shelter over the course of the year. At the time of this report, 25

women and five children resided at the shelter. NGO responses were

less certain that sex trafficking had declined, but agreed that it

had changed in nature and was harder to detect.





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Regarding labor trafficking, the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and

Labor (MITL) issued approximately 94,000 permits for employment of

foreign workers in various fields. The majority of these permits

were issued to elderly or handicapped persons needing full time

caregivers, and to farmers requesting employment of temporary

agricultural workers. Estimates on the number of workers who become

victims of labor trafficking vary widely.



For example, Hotline reported that it received 1073 requests in 2008

for assistance from migrant workers, including labor complaints

unrelated to trafficking, and said that during the reporting period

it had processed 14 new cases of slavery and forced labor. (Hotline

noted that it does not have access to all trafficking victims, and

said that the Tribunal for the Review of Custody of Persons Present

Unlawfully, which orders deportations, does not locate or identify

such individuals if they are in prison.) Cases that Hotline

determined to be trafficking cases thus constituted one percent of

complaints that it handled during the year. In its response for

this report, Hotline estimated that there are approximately 180,000

migrant workers in Israel, and wrote "if we assume that one percent

of these are trafficking victims, this produces the figure 1,800"

(victims of labor trafficking.) Hotline's estimate of the number of

labor trafficking victims in Israel therefore seems a speculation

based on a percentage of complainants that was then applied to the

percentage of total workers. The estimates of the leading NGOs are

made in good faith, and they do provide numerous cases that seem to

fit our definitions of labor traffickig. But the speculative and

apparently arbitrarynature of this example illustrates the

challengein quantifying the extent of the labor trafficking roblem

in Israel.



B7. Have there been any chages in the TIP situation since the last

TIP Repot (e.g. changes in destinations)?



The GOI repored a change in patterns of trafficking for

prosttution, which it said has "gone underground." Women were no

longer held under lock and key in houses of prostitution or bought

and sold for money, according to the GOI, which did not find the

same degree of violence and control as in the past. As described by

the GOI, the new system had call girl establishments or "discrete"

apartments whose conditions are better than they were in the past,

and prostitutes "consequently are less likely to complain." The GOI

also noted that the internet was increasingly used to facilitate

prostitution.



There was some disagreement between different judicial offices on

this matter. According to the GOI, the Tel Aviv District Attorney's

Office observed a change in the pattern of trafficking for the

purpose of prostitution in which the traffickers attempted to

"disguise" their occupation. The GOI submitted that in this new

pattern, traffickers abstained from using violence on their victims

(in contrast to cases that took place until 2005),refrained from

detaining the legal documents of the victims, did not lock up the

victims, and allowed the women to receive a small portion of the

fees paid for their services. The District Attorney, in the words

of the GOI, is of the opinion that these changed circumstances still

point to the existence of trafficking, albeit in a different form,

with evidence showing control, supervision, and objectification of

the victims, even if there was no "classic" aspect of

buying/purchasing or dominance as in past cases. The GOI reported

that the Tel Aviv District Court did not agree with this position,

and cited an October 16 release of defendants by the District Court

and denial of a request for detention until the conclusion of

proceedings in the case. The presiding judge determined that there

was no substantial evidence on which to base the TIP offense, no

indication of the "purchase" of the complainants, no coercion to

engage in sexual intercourse without paying for it, no physical

examination of the complainants in order to "gauge their fitness to

engage in prostitution", or any other "indications that the women

had been trafficked." This decision provoked an extensive public

debate, and was deliberated upon in discussions of the Subcommittee

for Trafficking in Women. The two offices remained in disagreement

on this subject at the time of this report.



According to Isha L'Isha, an increasing number of Israeli women were

trafficked for the purpose of prostitution in 2008.



The August 15, 2008 edition of Yedi'ot Aharonot reported that

Chinese women were being trafficked for sex to Chinese and Thai

workers, some or many of whom might be labor trafficking victims

themselves. The article described gruesome conditions encountered



TEL AVIV 00000466 003 OF 036





by the women.



In June and July 2008, Israel ratified the two major international

treaties on trafficking: The Optional Protocol to the Convention on

the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution

and Child Pornography; and The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and

Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children,

supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational

Organized Crime.



C. What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into?



The GOI reported that it estimated that most trafficked women were

engaged in "discrete" apartments or by escort agencies, and said the

conditions provided by the escort agencies were relatively less

harsh than in brothels, citing less violence, higher wages, and more

freedom of movement. In the words of Isha L'Isha, it depended on

the brothel and its location. If it was what they called an

"explicit center of the sex industry", the conditions were very

extreme: no windows or grates or even the minimum conditions for

living." If it was a "VIP" brothel, the conditions were better and

the women had more freedom, according to Isha L'Isha.



The GOI agreed that migrant workers arriving in Israel may be

exposed to several forms of abuse or violations of their rights, but

emphasized that "only the most severe cases can be considered

slavery, forced labor or trafficking." According to the Immigration

Administration, living conditions of foreign workers generally

ranged between "reasonable" and "good", although they acknowledged

that there were exceptions. Most of the violations of migrant

workers rights concerned working hours and the amount of wages paid,

according to the GOI, which also said there was evidence of some

cases where workers were employed for extremely long hours or not

given days of rest, holidays or breaks as required by law. The GOI

also said there were cases of workers whose freedom of movement was

drastically curtailed (including withheld passports) or some measure

of physical or psychological violence was used, including some cases

of sexual harassment. The GOI also said in its reply that some

workers arrived in Israel "after committing themselves to a debt of

over $15,000 in their countries of origin, thus becoming more

vulnerable to abuse because they are in greater need of

employment."



According to Hotline, Yael Gur, director of the Ministry of Health's

Levinsky STD Clinic, reported at a Knesset session on October 29,

2008 that she was aware of some 150 women who are employed as

prostitutes in conditions of slavery. Gur reportedly stated that

the women were held in a state of "objectification, control, and

deprivation, but they do not know to complain and, unfortunately,

they do not have sufficient trust in the police to tell them."

Hotline noted that a new state-run project (under the auspices of

the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs) to

rehabilitate women working as prostitutes that was announced in

January 2007, began operations in December 2008. The project

includes the establishment of day shelters in Tel Aviv and Haifa,

and activists will also go out into the field. Hotline explained

that the hope is the project will locate and rehabilitate Israeli

women who have been the victims of trafficking and are being held in

conditions of slavery.



Hotline stated that, in general, the trafficking situation had not

changed much during the reporting period. In Hotline's words,

"There is almost no enforcement. This year, as in the past, the new

women we have helped who were sex trafficking victims had been

brought to Israel years ago. As for trafficking for the purpose of

slavery, the victims mainly come from the same countries mentioned

in our last report (China, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal) and for the

same purposes (mainly to work in private homes.)" Hotline also

reported that it had observed little if any change in the conditions

of sex trafficking victims. According to Hotline, conditions of

slavery included withholding of passports, insufficient food,

isolation from the outside world and prohibition from communicating

with others, inability to leave the home (because they were locked

inside, or due to threats, or because their documents had been

taken, or because they were afraid of what might happen outside),

working for long hours without rest, insufficient or missing pay,

and failure to regulate their legal status. Hotline said that some

victims reported physical violence, others were subjected to verbal

violence and threats, some were made to sleep on a mattress on the

floor, some were not allowed showers, one woman stated that she was

given a fixed period of time to go to the toilet, and one man



TEL AVIV 00000466 004 OF 036





reported that his employer made him clean up the employer's feces

without gloves.



D. Vulnerability to TIP: Are certain groups of persons more at risk

of being trafficked (e.g. women and children, boys versus girls,

certain ethnic groups, refugees, IDPs, etc.)?



According to the GOI, the average age of victims of trafficking for

the purpose of prostitution was 18-35, with most victims being women

aged 20-26. The government reported that most victims of

trafficking for prostitution came from the former Soviet Union,

primarily from Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, and Uzbekistan. The

individuals at highest risk were identified as poor, abused, or

neglected women. Isha L'Isha said that it observed a sharp rise in

the exploitation of Arab women for prostitution. Hotline reported

that most internally trafficked Israeli women were drug addicts

subject to violence by clients, traffickers, drug peddlers and

"anyone else they come into contact with."



Israel is also a country of destination for temporary migrant

workers from Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. The GOI agreed that

middleman fees that foreign workers are required to pay in their

countries of origin in order to obtain a work permit in Israel was a

key aspect of their vulnerability. The Immigration Administration

estimated that foreign workers at the greatest risk for abuse

trafficking were from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China and India.

The National Coordinator estimated that Thai agricultural workers

were highly vulnerable due to circumstances having to do with their

isolated places of work, compounded by lack of familiarity with the

language and with their cultural background. The National

Coordinator determined that women working in the nursing care field

were highly vulnerable due to the isolated nature of their work

within a home. Philippine domestic caregivers were also vulnerable

because of the isolated nature (alone, within a home) of their

work.



While the population of African asylum seekers has risen from

approximately 200 in August 2006 to estimates of more than 20,000 at

the time of this report, we received no reports that this population

was being trafficked.



Kav LaOved reported that while the law does not permit employment

agents to charge foreign workers more than NIS 3,150 ($800) plus

airfare for a job in Israel, in practice, the sums paid by migrant

workers who arrive to Israel are much higher.



China - $25,000 (mostly in the construction industry)

Thailand - $8,000 - $12,000

Nepal, India, Sri Lanka - $6,000 - $10,000

Philippines, Moldova - $4,000 - $9,000

Romania - $2,000 - $3,000



The GOI agreed that, in some cases, migrant workers arriving in

Israel "find themselves in situations in which their labor rights or

human rights are not respected, in which they are sexually or

otherwise abused, or have their basic freedoms limited." General

examples provided by the GOI included workers who arrived in the

country only to find that the employer who invited them has passed

away or was not interested in employing them, or recruited workers

who lacked the necessary and basic skills to fulfill the employer's

needs and were dismissed by the employer after a short period of

employment. The GOI acknowledged that foreign workers encounter

difficulties in finding alternate legal employment due to their lack

of knowledge of the Israeli procedures, culture and language, and

that these factors can lead to situations where they are abused or

defrauded.



In summary, the combination of the illegally excessive fees and

perceived lack of freedom to change employers puts foreign workers

at great risk for exploitation and trafficking. Furthermore, as

detailed in B6, the extent of the problem is open to much debate,

and estimates as to the number of labor trafficking victims in

Israel vary widely. For a variety of reasons - language barriers,

isolated circumstances, distrust of authorities by many workers,

fear (because of large debits incurred due to the aforementioned

excessive job placement fees, often due to economic reasons rather

than safety concerns),the perception of some/many workers that the

difficult conditions and low pay are still better than what they

would find in their home country, and the often unclear line between

labor trafficking and labor law violations - identifying labor

trafficking victims is a problem for both the GOI and NGOs. The



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risks and the populations at risk are well known, but the numbers

remain elusive.



E1. Traffickers and Their Methods: Who are the

traffickers/exploiters? Are they independent business people?

Small or family-based crime groups? Large international organized

crime syndicates?



The GOI reported that trafficking for prostitution was often

conducted by organized crime groups, with cases of trafficking by

families or individuals. The organized crime groups were most often

comprised of members from the former Soviet Union states, according

to the GOI, which reported native-born Israelis traffickers in some

cases. The GOI reported that, according to information accumulated

by the Immigration Administration, including investigation files and

intelligence information, organized crime did not appear to be

involved in trafficking for the purpose of labor.



According to Isha L'Isha, all of these groups were involved, but the

sex traffickers often were at least connected to the underworld and

to organized crime. Isha L'Isha reported that it had not seen any

involvement of travel agencies in trafficking. There are

traffickers known to the police that weren't arrested due to lack of

evidence, according to Isha L'Isha, who described active trafficking

in northern Israel. Isha L'Isha also described cases in which

boyfriends forced women into prostitution for drugs, and husbands

exploited their wives for prostitution income.



Regarding trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, Hotline

suggested that people on the ground - drivers, brothel managers and

other operatives - tended to be opportunists looking to make quick

money.



Regarding labor trafficking, Hotline reported that foreign workers

are recruited through manpower agencies in source countries with

offers of lucrative jobs, or through friends who provide the contact

person in Israel and "tempt them to pay for a visa which sometimes

they get and sometimes never receive." According to Hotline, labor

traffickers tend to be private individuals who employ domestic

workers (with or without permission by the government) or

agriculture workers, and some are private manpower agencies.

Hotline said there was usually someone from the origin country who

worked with an Israeli partner. Hotline also described the

well-known (in Israel) problem of "flying visas", where the work

visa the foreign worker received turn out to be baseless, such as

visas issued to work for an elderly man that has already died, or

visas issued to work for someone who doesn't require a caregiver.

At this point, Hotline continued, the worker finds himself in huge

debt, without work, and with no legal status in Israel because of

the employer/employee binding policy for foreign workers.



E2. What methods are used to approach victims? For example, are

they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their families, or approached

by friends of friends?



The GOI responded that, according to information gathered by the

police from victims' testimonies, most victims answered ads placed

in local newspapers or websites in their countries of origin.

Alternate sources were personal relations - friends, relatives, or

acquaintances sometimes persuaded young women to travel outside

their countries for "work" that turned out to be prostitution.



Isha L'Isha reported that an increasing number of Israeli women were

trafficked by pimps who lured women into prostitution with drugs.



Regarding labor trafficking, the GOI responded that cases under

investigation for trafficking offenses "which apply in Israel"

generally related to foreign workers who were employed under

conditions that severely limited their freedom. According to the

GOI, labor trafficking cases were not "classic" cases as in

trafficking for prostitution "in that the pattern is not that of

workers being approached in countries of origin with offers of

lucrative jobs for the purpose of enslaving them, but rather

middlemen who require payment of large sums in order to allow the

worker to obtain a permit and who care only about the money, and not

about what happens to the worker subsequently in the country of

destination." The GOI responded that high middleman fees made the

workers more vulnerable to exploitation by employers, but because

these employers had "no connection" with the mediators or middlemen,

the indictment filed on forced labor and the four pending cases of

forced labor focused on the conditions in Israel rather than on the



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recruitment abroad.



E3. What methods are used to move the victims (e.g., are false

documents being used?). Are employment, travel, and tourism

agencies or marriage brokers involved with or fronting for

traffickers or crime groups to traffic individuals?



Most of the victims trafficked for prostitution were smuggled

through the Israeli-Egyptian border, according to the GOI, which

added that in recent years there has been an increase in the number

of prostitutes who entered through the Ben Gurion Airport with

forged documents. The GOI reported that there have been no known

cases of trafficking through maritime borders in recent year, and

noted that most of the trafficking victims identified in 2008 were

trafficked to Israel in previous years, usually earlier than 2005.



The GOI responded that it generally had not found travel agencies or

marriage brokers serving as fronts for sex or labor trafficking, but

added that government agencies carefully monitored individuals with

a history of pandering or trafficking, who married women from

countries of origin for trafficking, on suspicion that in some cases

the marriages may have been used to traffic the women into

prostitution. The GOI said that this allegation was very difficult

to prove but that several agencies were involved in the monitoring

efforts, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Police, the

State Attorney's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nativ

Contact Center, and the National Coordinator.



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3. SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS

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A. Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a problem in

the country? If not, why not?



The government acknowledges a trafficking problem in Israel. The

GOI reported that The Ministry of Justice announced that Trafficking

in Persons will be the main theme of the Ministry again in 2009, as

it was in 2008, with a special emphasis on the issue of training in

all levels of the Ministry.



B. Which government agencies are involved in anti-trafficking

efforts and which agency, if any, has the lead?



Many government agencies are involved in anti-trafficking efforts.

The lead agencies are the Ministry of Public Security and the

Israeli Police; the Immigration Administration; various branches of

the Ministry of Justice (including the Attorney General, State

Attorney, the Legal Aid Division, the Tribunal for Detention Review,

the Administrator General and the Department of International

Agreements); the Ministry of the Interior; the Ministry of Social

Affairs and Social Services; MITL; the Prime Minister's Office

(particularly the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of

Women); the Ministry of Education; and the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs. Overall coordination comes from the National Coordinator

for Anti-Trafficking Efforts in the Ministry of Justice.



The GOI described the National Coordinator as having "a central role

in the fight against trafficking on two levels: creating mechanisms

to encourage cooperation and designing substantive initiatives."



The GOI reported that the National Coordinator performed the

following responsibilities during 2008:

-- Assisted policy making, in particular as regards protection of

victims;

-- Made efforts to identify trouble spots and devise solutions;

-- Maintained communication with international entities and learned

from comparative materials;

-- Promoted education and training and encouraged research;

-- Developed channels of communications between the GOI and NGOs to

strengthen cooperation;

-- Dealt with specific problems that arose;

-- Promoted legislation, regulations and procedures important for

the battle against trafficking;

-- Was active with government ministries that participate in the

battle against trafficking, creating procedures that create a

climate unfriendly to trafficking;

-- Contributed to the creation of more positive procedures;

-- Initiated and assisted in projects important to the battle

against trafficking;

-- Served in an advisory capacity to government agencies and other



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bodies (including the Joint Distribution Committee) who needed

information on relevant issues; and

-- "Most importantly, her first concern is the battle against

trafficking and as such, she places the issue in the foreground of

any context in which she appears. She also sees as her first duty

ascertaining that Israel accords with international standards in

this area and in particular a human rights focus." A full

description of the National Coordinator's activities can be found

starting on page 40 of the GOI response.



Isha L'Isha reported that "almost all" government authorities

responded to its requests, but added that the Ministry of Interior

cooperated only if when the victim was returning to her country of

origin and rejected requests if there was an issue of allowing the

victim to remain in Israel for humanitarian reasons. Isha L'Isha

also complained of "unequal procedures" in the National Insurance

Institute that they said discriminated against foreign women by not

giving them their rights as single mothers to Israeli children with

Israeli IDs. The Ministry of Justice led assistance in the

treatment of the trafficked victims, according to Isha L'Isha, but

added that the Attorney's Office of the northern region ignored

"almost completely" the phenomenon of trafficking in women. Isha

L'Isha claimed that this office's attorneys were "completely

ignorant" of women's rights, "even those (women) who give evidence

against pimps and traffickers."



Amnesty International Israel reported that the Police (or more

specifically the education unit) were interested in having policemen

exposed to TIP and what their role should be in combating the

problem, but "not to the degree of deciding to actively force units

to order lectures from us." Amnesty International Israel praised

the Border Police, however, who they said saw TIP as a high priority

issue.



The Population, Immigration and Border Authority in the Ministry of

the Interior was created in 2008 (it formally began operations in

August) for what the GOI described as "the purpose of concentrating

governmental powers concerning foreign nationals, previously

distributed between various Government Ministries, in one central

authority." This new Authority replaced the Population Registry in

Ministry of the Interior and assumed responsibility for

implementation of Government policies regarding foreign nationals,

including foreign workers. A full description of its activities can

be found beginning on page 18 of the GOI response.



C1. What are the limitations on the government's ability to address

this problem in practice? For example, is funding for police or

other institutions inadequate?



Regarding labor trafficking, the GOI responded that "one can assume

that part of the money is transferred to recruitment agencies in

Israel" but "to date, supportive evidence which would allow criminal

prosecution of the agencies has not been found, and according to the

legal regime in these countries of origin, the authorities in Israel

are not permitted to independently investigate this phenomenon in

these countries.



The GOI generally cited resource allocation issues (mostly in

competition with security concerns) as limiting funding below

optimal amounts, and also said that the large workload of the court

system, especially the Tel Aviv District Court, made it very

difficult to run large-scale criminal proceedings, especially ones

relating to multiple defendants and witnesses. A full description

of limitations as seen by the GOI, including specific cases cited by

the State Attorney's Office, can be found starting on pages 45 and

76 of their response.



Hotline stated that the experience of previous years had proven that

the government was "capable of creating significant impact both in

regards to enforcement and protection" in the area of sex

trafficking, but that "as far as we can tell, this has now become a

low priority issue, especially with the Police." Hotline charged

that the Police did not initiate any investigations into trafficking

of Israelis trafficked internally and externally, and that

trafficked Israeli women were not recognized as such.



Hotline acknowledged that distinguishing between "exploitation and

scams, on the one hand, and trafficking and slavery, on the other,

is not as easy as determining when foreign women have been

trafficked for the purpose of prostitution." Hotline continued that

"as we noted in the last report, we believe that it is still a case



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of lack of knowledge and especially experience in identifying

victims and a total and completed dependence on the police to define

who falls into the 'trafficking' category."



Hotline quoted several government representatives from a parliament

meeting on July 1, 2008. Dorit Ben Meir, the head of the Unit for

Combating Crime Against Foreigners at the Immigration Authority,

reportedly said "I'm not confident that everyone understands and has

assimilated this new felony. Even today, I'm not confident that

people know the difference between forced labor and slavery. We

investigated many files and it turned out that it is not always a

case of slavery, rather it is forced labor. In the end, the charges

are brought down to passport confiscation and the files are closed."

Tanya Goldstein, from the Legal Department of the Ministry of

Interior, reportedly said "In terms of identification, we have an

objective problem. The police claim that a person is not a victim

and we must rely on the worker himself. We do our best to identify

but these cases are problematic." According to Hotline, "this

paints an overall picture of a slow and cumbersome system that lacks

flexibility, impeding its ability to deal with complexities in the

field."



C2. Is overall corruption a problem?



No. Isha L'Isha reported some bureaucratic problems that sometimes

hindered anti-trafficking efforts, but said they had not seen any

corruption.



C3. Does the government lack the resources to aid victims?



No, although competition with other State priorities for available

resources is of course an issue. The GOI reported that a

significant part of the (anti-trafficking) budget was allocated to

assisting victims.



D. To what extent does the government systematically monitor its

anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts -- prosecution, victim

protection, and prevention) and periodically make available,

publicly or privately and directly or through regional/international

organizations, its assessments of these anti-trafficking efforts?



The GOI reported that the National Coordinator attempted to monitor

the efforts of government agencies on both micro and macro levels to

"identify problems and seek solutions" by requesting information and

making recommendations to various Government agencies, convening a

permanent team appointed by the Committee of Directors General, and

applying to the Chairman of the Committee of Directors General on

several occasions as needs arose. The National Coordinator

conducted five meetings with members of the Immigration

Administration, seven meetings with Ministry of the Interior

officials, six meetings with State and District Attorney

representatives, four meetings with Maagan Shelter staff, and six

meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The National

Coordinator also initiated meetings with NGOs and government

officials, visited detention facilities, participated in training of

law enforcement authorities, and prepared an annual summary of the

GOI's steps to combat trafficking that was posted on the internet.





The Parliamentary Subcommittee of Trafficking in Women Subcommittee

of the Committee on the Status of Women monitored sex trafficking,

advocated legislative solutions, and held an annual session

following the publication of the State Department's TIP Report to

discuss issues raised in the report. Unfortunately, Subcommittee

Chairperson Zehava Gal-On, a longtime leader in Israeli

anti-trafficking efforts, will probably not return to the Government

following a poor showing by her party in the February 10, 2009

national election. The Special Parliamentary Committee on the issue

of Foreign Workers was not as active in addressing trafficking of

foreign workers.



A full description of Government monitoring efforts can be found

beginning on page 50 of the GOI response.



Isha L'Isha described the state's efforts to combat sex trafficking

in 2008 as "abundant" generally, although it urged that more

pressure be put on the Attorney's Office and police for the northern

region, which it said "do not start police procedures in

trafficking" and "even claim that the phenomenon doesn't exist."



-------------- --



TEL AVIV 00000466 009 OF 036





4. INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS

-------------- --



For questions A-D, posts should highlight in particular whether or

not the country has enacted any new legislation since the last TIP

report.



A1. Existing Laws against TIP: Does the country have a law or laws

specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons -- both for sexual

exploitation and labor?



Yes.



A2. If so, please specifically cite the name of the law(s) and its

date of enactment and provide the exact language [actual copies

preferable] of the TIP provisions.



The Anti Trafficking Law came into force on October 29, 2006. Most

of its provisions were incorporated into the Penal Law, 5737-1977

(the "Penal Law"). A copy of the Law is appended as Addendum 2 of

the GOI response. The law includes five core offenses.



(1) Trafficking in Persons - Section 377A (a) of the Penal Law -

carries maximum penalties of 16 years imprisonment and 20 years of

imprisonment if the victim is a minor. The crime includes two

elements - "transaction in (not with) a human being" for one of

seven purposes (removal of organs from the victim's body, having the

victim give birth to a baby and taking it from him, bringing a

victim to a condition of slavery or forced labor, bringing the

victim to an act of prostitution, bringing the victim to participate

in a pornographic publication or exhibition, committing a sexual

offense against the victim).



The GOI emphasized that, from their perspective, the elements of

trafficking in Israel are different from that in the United States

because the U.S. law requires three elements (moving a person from

one place to another, by foul means, for a pernicious purpose) while

the Israeli law requires only two elements (transaction in a person,

for a pernicious purpose.) According to the GOI, whereas the United

States requires that the victim be moved from one place to another,

Israel does not, nor does it require that foul means be employed

towards the victim, and the victim's consent is wholly irrelevant to

the Israeli law whether the victim is a minor or not. The GOI also

argued that the Israeli law details seven purposes, whereas the U.S.

law details only two - commercial sexual exploitation and labor

exploitation. The GOI argued that unlike the American crime, the

Israeli crime requires a "transaction in a human being, thus

reflecting the view that the essence of trafficking lies in the

objectification of a person."



(2) Abduction for the Purpose of Trafficking - Section 374A of the

Penal Law - carries a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment.

The crime requires the following three elements - inducing a person

to move from one place to another, by means of threats or force or

by obtaining his/her consent by fraud, for any of the purposes of

trafficking in persons as detailed in Section 377A (a). According

to the GOI, this crime is almost the same as the U.S. trafficking in

persons offense because both require essentially the same three

elements - moving a person from place to place, by foul means, for

pernicious purposes. (The GOI response added that the Israeli

section "includes more such pernicious purposes than does the

American section.")



(3) Holding a Person under Conditions of Slavery - Section 375A of

the Penal Law - carries a maximum penalty of 16 years imprisonment,

20 years if committed against a minor. The two core elements

include: holding a person under conditions of slavery (slavery is

defined as exercising towards the victim the powers regularly

exercised towards property, including exercising significant control

over his/he life or deprivation of his/her freedom); and holding a

person for the purpose of work or services, including sexual

services.



(4) Forced Labor - Section 376 of the Penal Law - carries a maximum

penalty of seven years imprisonment. The two key elements are

forcing a person to work, whether for remuneration or not; and

forcing a person by means of force, other means of pressure or

threat of these, or by obtaining his/her agreement by means of

fraud.



(5) Causing a person to leave his country for purposes of



TEL AVIV 00000466 010 OF 036





prostitution or slavery - Section 376B of the Penal Law - carries a

maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment. The two key elements of

this crime are: causing a person to leave the country in which the

victim resides; and, in order to engage the victim in prostitution,

holding the victim under conditions of slavery.



Additional provisions in the Anti-Trafficking Law include minimum

sentences, forfeiture provisions, a special fund for fines and

forfeited property in trafficking cases, compensation for victims,

legal aid, obligation to report crimes, testimony not in the

presence of the accused, money laundering, and foreign forfeiture

orders.



-- Minimum sentences obligates the courts, as a rule, to mete out a

minimum sentence for all trafficking and slavery crimes, which the

GOI defined as one fourth of the maximum sentence with the

requirement that the entire sentence not be suspended.



-- Forfeiture provision obligate courts to order forfeiture of

assets connected to trafficking crimes, including profits accruing

from such crimes, "upon the conviction of a person who has

trafficked or enslaved another person."



-- The Special Fund (for fines and forfeited property of criminals

convicted of trafficking and slavery crimes) is supposed to

allocate money for the purposes of protection, prosecution and

prevention of trafficking crimes, with at least 50% of the property

in the Fund each year to be allotted to the rehabilitation and

protection of trafficking victims. In addition, the Fund is supposed

to reimburse trafficking victims (by means of a full or partial sum)

who have received a judgment for compensation by traffickers (in

criminal or civil proceedings) and "can establish that they have

used all reasonable means to collect the compensation but have

failed."



On February 9th 2009, the Minister of Justice signed Regulations

regarding the operation of this Fund that were previously approved

by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset on

January 26th 2009. The regulations are entitled Penal Regulations

(Means of Managing the Special Fund Dealing with Forfeited Property

and Fines Imposed in Cases of Trafficking in Persons and Holding

under Conditions of Slavery),5769-2009. The GOI reported that with

the publishing of these regulations, it will be possible to appoint

a committee to distribute forfeited property and fines to victims,

NGOs and government agencies in order to further rehabilitation

programs for victims, enforcement and prevention activities, and

that it will be possible for victims who were unable to collect

compensation awarded by courts by reasonable means, to receive these

sums (whether partially or in full) from the Fund.



-- Regarding compensation for victims, courts that do not award

compensation to victims of trafficking or slavery in criminal

proceedings must specify the reasons for their decisions.



-- The law mandates legal aid be provided to all victims of

trafficking and slavery in civil suits arising from the crimes

committed against them or suits arising from the Entry to Israel

Law, 5712-1952. According t the GOI, the rendering of legal aid is

calculated to allow victims to use their right to submit civil and

administrative suits and make for a friendlier climate for civil

claims. While victims of trafficking for prostitution had

previously been granted this right on a permanent basis, the law had

previously given only a temporary right to victims of trafficking

for slavery or other purposes, but in November 2008 the Knesset

passed Legal Aid Law (Amendment 9) granting a permanent right to

free legal aid to all victims of trafficking and slavery.



-- An obligation to report suspected trafficking offenses committed

against minors or those who cannot care for themselves, is required

of certain professionals (i.e. doctors, nurses, educational workers,

social workers, employees of the social welfare services, police

officers, psychologists, criminologists, paramedics, and staff

members in shelters) who have a reasonable basis to believe that a

trafficking offense has been committed at any time. These

professionals are to report as soon as possible to a welfare worker

or the Police, and violation of this obligation is considered a

criminal offense. In addition, members of the general public are

required to report if he/she has a reasonable basis to believe that

such a crime has just been committed. Violation of this obligation

is also a criminal offense.





TEL AVIV 00000466 011 OF 036





-- Regarding testimony not in the presence of the accused, a victim

of trafficking for the purposes of prostitution, pornography, or

commission of a sexual offense may testify without the presence of

the accused, provided that "certain procedural safeguards are

observed."



-- The law makes trafficking, slavery, forced labor, and the

withholding of passports crimes under the Prohibition on Money

Laundering Law 5760-2000.



-- The law authorizes the courts to enforce foreign forfeiture

orders regarding property of traffickers and enslavers in Israel in

the framework of mutual legal assistance between nations.



A complete explanation of the GOI's perspective on their law in

comparison to U.S. law can be found beginning on page of 58 of their

response.



A new system for the employment of foreign workers in the nursing

care field was initiated in 2008. As described in previous Tel Aviv

TIP reports, following the court decision in HCJ 4542/02 Kav

LaOved-Workers Hotline et al v. the State of Israel that required

the Government to find new methods of employment of foreign workers

that would not "chain" the worker to one employer, an

inter-ministerial committee designed a new method for employing

foreign caregivers. The GOI reported that implementation of this

new system was delayed due to six appeals to the High Court of

Justice against the new system filed by recruitment agencies and

handicapped employers. After many months of deliberations, the

Court approved the new method, and applications from newly

established recruitment agencies under the new procedure were

accepted and examined. On August 31, 2008, the licenses and permits

of all the former private recruitment agencies specializing in

recruitment of foreign workers for the nursing care field were

canceled, and new licenses and permits under the new system of

employment of foreign caregivers were granted on September 1, 2008.

The GOI reported that these licenses were granted exclusively to

newly formed recruitment agencies whose eligibility had been

carefully examined under the new procedures requiring them to assume

certain responsibilities for the recruited workers and their

employers after the arrival of the workers in the country. The GOI

reported that due to the new and more stringent requirements for

such permits, approximately 140 such agencies received licenses, and

32 applications for licenses and permits were denied. The various

elements of the new system were being implemented by Population,

Immigration and Border Authority on a gradual basis. The GOI stated

that it hoped that this system will limit the previously described

"flying visa" phenomenon - where unscrupulous recruiters collected

large fees from foreign workers who arrived in Israel to find that

the promised job did not exist - by allowing workers who legally

entered the country to find alternate employment if they lose their

first place of employment, and will also allow increased supervision

of recruitment agencies and employers. However, MITL reported that

due to complaints received from severely handicapped individuals

claiming that such administrative sanctions could cause them great

harm and should be used sparingly, it decided that decisions to

cancel permits of severely handicapped employers of foreign workers

should first be reviewed by a committee headed by a retired judge,

rather than decided upon by one individual. NGOs vigorously

protested the MITL decision, and pointed out that at the time of

this report the committee had yet to meet and no licenses of abusive

employers had been revoked since the new system came into place.



The Witness Protection Law 5769 - 2008 was entered into force on

November 16, 2008. The law is designed to allow for enhanced

protection of witnesses who fall into particular criteria, some of

which include trafficking cases.



In addition, in June and July 2008, Israel ratified the two major

international treaties on trafficking:

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography;

and The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in

Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United

Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.



A3. Please provide a full inventory of trafficking laws, including

non-criminal statutes that allow for civil penalties against alleged

trafficking crimes (e.g., civil forfeiture laws and laws against

illegal debt).





TEL AVIV 00000466 012 OF 036





Conveying a Person Beyond the Boundaries of a State (Section 370 of

the Penal Law) prohibits conveying a person beyond the boundaries of

the state in which he resides. The maximum sentence is 10 years

imprisonment.



Withholding of Passport (Section 376A of the Penal Law) penalizes

"anyone who withholds, unlawfully, a passport, travel document or

identity document of another person." The maximum sentence was

increased to three year's imprisonment (compared to the former

maximum sentence of one year imprisonment) and added a more severe

five year sentence for withholding of a passport under aggravating

circumstances, i.e. if the crime was committed in order to achieve

one of the purposes enumerated in the trafficking crime (including

slavery and forced labor.)



Exploitation of Vulnerable Populations - (Section 431 of the Penal

Law): Heightened Maximum Sentence - penalizes those who "exploit the

distress, the bodily or mental weakness, the lack of experience or

recklessness of a person in order to demand or receive something

which is not owing or to demand or receive something at a price

which is unreasonably higher than the norm or to pay a price

unreasonably lower than the norm for a product or service." This

section existed in the Penal Law before the enactment of the Law,

but its maximum sentence was increased from one year imprisonment to

a maximum sentence of three years "in order to reflect the severity

of exploitation encountered today, and in particular in the realm of

foreign workers. It should be noted, that this section has been

used in the past to indict persons who exploited foreign workers."



-- The Employment Service Law (Amendment no. 14) 5719-1959

criminalizes the collection of illegal recruitment fees from foreign

workers, above the maximum permitted fee, and makes this crime

punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to NIS

202,000 ($50,500). The amendment also makes the collection of fees

an origin offense according to the Prohibition on Money Laundering

Law.



-- The Employment Service Regulations (Recruitment Fees) 5766-2006

limit the permitted recruitment fee to be collected from a foreign

worker by an Israeli recruitment agency to NIS 3,135 (app. $783,

roughly 88% of the monthly minimum wage) minus any sum paid by the

worker to a foreign recruitment agency. The agency may also collect

from the foreign worker the cost of air fare from the source country

to Israel. The Regulations also state the terms under which it is

permitted to collect the fee (e.g. a detailed contract between the

agency and the worker). In addition, according to the Regulations,

a recruitment agency shall reimburse payments collected from a

foreign worker under certain circumstances.



-- The Employment Service (Provisions of Information) Regulations,

5766-2006 require recruitment agencies to provide foreign workers

with all the information relating to their rights and obligations as

foreign workers in Israel (e.g. permitted fees' rates, etc.).



-- The Law Limiting Use of Premises in order to Prevent the

Commission of Crime 5765-2005 authorizes the Police and Courts to

limit the use of premises, or to close them, if they have served for

the purpose of prostitution offenses or trafficking for the purpose

of prostitution, if they are convinced that said premises will

continue to serve these purposes. Courts have the authority to

issue such orders for periods of 90 days, with the possibility of

extension. Police may issue such orders for a period of 30 days

during which they may request the court to rule.



-- The Battle against Organized Crime Law 5763-2003 created

separate criminal offenses for activity in organized crime groups

and states that if another crime is committed in the context of

organized crime, its maximum punishment is double the punishment of

that crime, but may not exceed 25 years of imprisonment.



-- The Prevention of Infiltration (Offenses and Jurisdiction) Law

5714-1954-Section 6 imposes a penalty of up to five years

imprisonment for assisting in the smuggling of persons through

Israel's borders or providing aid to facilitate their illegal stay

in Israel.



-- The Tort Ordinance (New Version),5729-1968 sets forth torts

which trafficking victims may claim, such as assault (Section 23)

and imprisonment (Section 26).



-- The Contracts Law (Remedies for Breach of Contract),5731-1970



TEL AVIV 00000466 013 OF 036





and the Unjust Enrichment Law, 5739-1979 allow remedies for breach

of contract and unjust enrichment, which may be relevant for

trafficking victims.



-- Labor laws may be invoked in order to sue traffickers, such as

the Protection of Salary Law, 5718-1958 and the Foreign Workers

Law.



A4. Does the law(s) cover both internal and transnational forms of

trafficking?



Israeli courts may exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over these

crimes when they are committed by Israeli citizens in other

countries, even if they do not constitute crimes in these countries

(no double criminality requirement). The GOI responded that the

trafficking law can be invoked against internal trafficking, as can

"holding under conditions of slavery", "forced labor" and "abduction

for the purposes of trafficking". Crimes that typically take place

transnationally and can be invoked transnationally are trafficking

and causing a person to leave his/her country for purposes of

prostitution or slavery, according to the GOI, which added that

crimes such as holding under conditions of slavery, forced labor,

and abduction for the purposes of trafficking can also be invoked

transnationally "if the circumstances accord with Israel's laws on

jurisdiction."



A5. 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 force, fraud, or coercion?



See laws described in previous paragraphs.



A6. Are these other laws being used in trafficking cases?



See response to paragraph 4 section E.



B. Punishment of Sex Trafficking Offenses: What are the prescribed

and imposed penalties for trafficking people for sexual

exploitation?



According to the GOI, Section 377A(a) of the Penal Law "promulgates

a broad trafficking crime" for a number of illegal purposes:

prostitution, sexual crimes, slavery or forced labor, removal of

organs, pornography, and using the body of a person to give birth to

a baby who is then taken from her. The penalty for the crime is 16

years of imprisonment and 20 years of imprisonment if the crime is

committed against a minor. The GOI added that it was noteworthy

that this crime does not require the element of use of force,

pressure or fraud, thus allowing conviction even if the trafficking

was not committed by such means, and "consent" of the victim to

being trafficked was irrelevant.



Isha L'Isha complained that the section authorizing a confiscation

fund for sex trafficking is so limited, and police record keeping so

spotty, that Israeli women and internal trafficking victims will not

be able to use the fund, which to the best of our knowledge has yet

to be activated. Isha L'Isha said it was not aware of any penalties

imposed for sex trafficking in 2008.



Hotline complained that there were no new convictions in 2008, and

noted that traffickers filed appeals against convictions from

previous years. Hotline suggested that an issue relating to

enforcement is the question of which body is responsible for this

area. Noting that enforcement relating to trafficking in women for

the purpose of prostitution is the responsibility of the district

units, but that enforcement relating to trafficking for the purpose

of slavery and forced labor is the responsibility of the Immigration

Authority, Hotline questioned this division at numerous meetings

with GOI officials and emphasized the need for cooperation between

the different units.



C1. Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses: What are the

prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking for labor

exploitation, such as forced or bonded labor?



According to Section 377A of the Penal Law, trafficking in persons

carries a maximum sentence of 16 years imprisonment, or 20 years

imprisonment if the offense is committed against a minor. Section

375A - holding a person under conditions of slavery - carries a

maximum sentence of 16 years of incarceration. Section 374A -

Abduction for Purposes of Trafficking in Persons - carries a maximum



TEL AVIV 00000466 014 OF 036





sentence of 20 years of imprisonment. Section 376 - forced labor -

7 years of incarceration. Section 376B - Causing a person to leave

his/her country for the purposes of prostitution or slavery -

carries a maximum sentence of 10 years of incarceration.



The Law for the Prevention of Infiltration (Offenses and

Jurisdiction) - Section 6 of the Law, carries a maximum sentence of

five years' imprisonment for assisting the smuggling of persons

through Israel's borders or assisting their illegal stay in Israel.

Employers may be prosecuted for violations of the labor laws,

including the Foreign Workers Law. Criminal offenses under this law

include the following:

-- Employment of a foreign worker without providing him/her with a

detailed contract;

-- Employment of a foreign worker without provision of medical

insurance;

-- Employment of a foreign worker without providing proper lodging;



-- Employment of a foreign worker without providing a detailed

pay-slip, or unlawfully deducting sums from his/her wages;

-- Employment of a foreign worker without holding the documentation

pertaining to the above obligations, as well as a listing of hours

of work, at the workplace or the offices of the employer; and

-- Illegal employment of a foreign worker, i.e. - employment of a

foreign worker by an employer who does not have a permit to do so,

or employment of a foreign worker in violation of the conditions of

his/her visa.



Under the Foreign Workers Law, the administrative fines imposed vary

according to the violation committed. The GOI reported that the

relevant regulations were revised in 2008 to raise the fines imposed

on manpower companies and recruitment agencies for offenses under

the Law, and to lighten the fines imposed on individuals for first

offenses of a technical nature. The maximum administrative fine for

a violation carried out by manpower companies and recruitment

agencies is now NIS 10,000 ($2,500) for each original offense, and

NIS 20,000 ($5,000) for each repeated offense. The maximum

administrative fine for a violation is NIS 5,000 ($1,250) for each

original offense, and NIS 10,000 ($2,500) for each repeated offense.

An additional fine of NIS 500 ($125) for each day the violation

continues can also be imposed.



A maximum criminal penalty of NIS 52,200 ($13,050) per employee per

offense can be imposed upon the employer by a court of law, and when

the violation occurs in a business framework, the maximum criminal

penalty for each offense is NIS 104,400 ($26,100) or one year

imprisonment. An additional penalty of NIS 5,200 ($1,300) for each

day the violation continues can also be imposed.



C2. If your country is a source country for labor migrants, do the

government's laws provide for criminal punishment -- i.e. jail time

-- for labor recruiters who engage in recruitment of workers using

knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers with the purpose of

subjecting workers to trafficking in the destination country?



N/A



C3. If your country is a destination for labor migrants, are there

laws punishing employers or labor agents who confiscate workers'

passports or travel documents for the purpose of trafficking, switch

contracts without the worker's consent as a means to keep the worker

in a state of service, or withhold payment of salaries as means of

keeping the worker in a state of service?



Yes. According to the Israeli Penal Law, if a labor recruiter knew

that the sums were collected from the foreign worker for the purpose

of trafficking, or if he knew that he was endangering a person into

being trafficked by so doing, he may be considered an accomplice to

a trafficking offense and thus liable to 16 years of imprisonment or

eight years if his/her role is only that of an aider and abettor of

such an offense. In addition, Section 376B may be invoked, which

carries ten years of imprisonment for causing a person to leave a

state for purposes of prostitution or slavery.



Furthermore, according to Section 374A, he/she may be found guilty

of abduction for purposes of trafficking in persons, and thus liable

to 20 years imprisonment. (According to Section 369 of the Penal

Law, abduction includes inducing a person to move from the place in

which he is presently, by fraudulent means.) For all of these

offenses, the perpetrator must intend that his/her actions are for

the purposes detailed in each criminal section. A person who



TEL AVIV 00000466 015 OF 036





recruits a worker deceitfully with no knowledge that he/she may be

trafficked or engaged in prostitution or slavery cannot be

indicted.



According to Section 7 of the Penal Law, these violations may be

considered domestic rather than extraterritorial offense because the

they were at least partially committed in Israel, which is where the

victim arrives to be enslaved or prostituted.



The maximum sentence for withholding a passport is three years

imprisonment, and if aggravating circumstances are present, i.e. if

the passport is detained for one of the purposes of trafficking, the

maximum sentence is five years imprisonment (Section 376A of the

Penal Law.) In addition, Section 431 of the Penal Law relating to

exploitation provides three years imprisonment for taking advantage

of the "distress, physical or mental weakness, inexperience or

carelessness of another person." Other relevant penal provisions

include: blackmailing by means of threats (Section 428 of the Penal

Law) with a maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment, and nine

years if the blackmailed party actually did what the blackmailer

wanted him to do); fraud (Section 415 of the Penal Law) with a

maximum punishment of five years imprisonment; threat (Section 192

of the Penal Law) with a maximum punishment of three years

imprisonment; taking property for the purpose of blackmail (Section

430 of the Penal Law) with a maximum punishment of one year

imprisonment; and trickery (Section 416 of the Penal Law) with a

maximum punishment of two years imprisonment. These actions could

also be viewed as circumstantial evidence on which can be based a

trafficking, slavery or forced labor offense.



However, Kav LaOved responded that while the maximum penalty for

passport confiscation is five years imprisonment, the penalties

imposed on offenders are lenient. Kav LaOved reported that to the

best of there knowledge, there has not been "even a sole case" in

which a perpetrator was imprisoned for passport confiscation, and

added that not one was even sentenced to community service.

Furthermore, according to Kav LaOved, under a court ruling of

December 25, 2008 (C (Beer Sheva) 4688/06 State of Israel v. Reuven

Golan),if a victim surrenders his/her passport to the perpetrator

"voluntarily" and without protest, it is not an offense to withhold

their passport. Kav LaOved stated that they believe this ruling to

be at odds with the law's language and purpose, and requested that

the State file an appeal.



D. What are the prescribed penalties for rape or forcible sexual

assault? (NOTE: This is necessary to evaluate a foreign government's

compliance with TVPA Minimum Standard 2, which reads: "For the

knowing commission of any act of sex trafficking . . . the

government of the country should prescribe punishment commensurate

with that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault (rape)."

END NOTE)



Rape: 16 years; rape under aggravated circumstances: 20 years

(Section 345 of the Penal Law). According to Article 345(a) of the

Penal Law, if a person had intercourse with a woman (introduces any

part of the body, or any object into the woman's sex organ) - (1)

without her freely given consent; (2) with the woman's consent,

which was obtained by deceit in respect of the identity of the

person and the nature of the act; (3) when the woman is a minor

below age 14, even with her consent; (4) by exploiting the woman's

state of unconsciousness or other condition that prevents her from

giving her free consent; (5) by exploiting the fact that she is

mentally ill or deficient, if because of her illness or mental

deficiency her consent to intercourse did not constitute free

consent - then he committed rape and is liable to sixteen years

imprisonment.



Intercourse with a minor: Having intercourse with a minor who has

reached age 14 but has not yet reached age 16, and who is not

married to the offender, or with a minor who has reached age 16 but

has not yet reached age 18, by exploiting a relationship of

dependence, authority, education, or supervision, or by a false

promise of marriage, carries a penalty of five years (Section 346(a)

of the Penal Law).



Forbidden intercourse with consent (with a woman aged over 18, by

exploiting the offender's authority at the workplace or service, or

by false promises of marriage, while pretending to be single)

carries a penalty of three years (Section 346(b) of the Penal Law).







TEL AVIV 00000466 016 OF 036





Sodomy - where the victim is aged over 14 but under 18 - carried a

penalty of five years (Section 347(a) of the Penal Law).



Sodomy - where the victim has reached age 18, by exploiting the

offender's authority at the workplace or service - carries a penalty

of three years (Section 347(b)).



Sodomy - under circumstances detailed in the Section on rape -

carries the penalties of a rapist (Section 347(c) of the Penal

Law).



Indecent acts carries penalties that range from 3-10 years,

depending on the circumstances (Section 348 of the Penal Law).



Indecent acts in public carry penalties that range from 1-3 years

imprisonment, depending on the circumstances. (Section 349)



Sexual offenses within the family incur heavier penalties. For

example, rape or sodomy may incur a penalty of 20 years if the

victim is a minor and a relative of the offender (Section 351 of the

Penal Law).



E1. Law Enforcement Statistics: Did the government prosecute any

cases against human trafficking offenders during the reporting

period?



Yes.



E2. If so, provide numbers of investigations, prosecutions,

convictions, and sentences imposed, including details on plea

bargains and fines, if relevant and available.



SEX TRAFFICKING



The GOI reported that in 2008, the police conducted nine criminal

investigations on trafficking in persons for the purpose of engaging

them in prostitution, resulting in the arrest of nine individuals.

Six indictments were filed in 2008 for these offenses, in addition

to 12 ongoing cases pending before the courts. The State Attorney's

Office convicted five persons in 2008 for trafficking for the

purpose of prostitution "and/or related offenses." Another seven

appeals were submitted to the Supreme Court by defendants convicted

of trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution, and/or

related offenses (several of which appealed against their

conviction). These appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.

The sentences appealed vary from six months to 13 years of

imprisonment, in addition to compensation to victims, depending on

the severity of the offenses. An appeal submitted by the State

against a lenient sentence is also pending before the Supreme Court.





The GOI also reported that during 2008 the Supreme Court dismissed

11 appeals submitted by defendants against the severity of their

sentence (ranging from 1.5 to 18 years, plus in some case additional

compensation to the victims) and several defendants who appealed the

conviction itself. During 2008, the Supreme Court also dismissed

four appeals submitted by the State contesting the leniency of

sentences imposed for trafficking and/or related offenses, which

ranged from 6 to 12 years of imprisonment and additional

compensation to the victims. In one case the State appealed the

partial acquittal of one of the defendants.



In addition, the GOI reported that the Police opened three cases in

2008 based on Section 374 of the Penal Law - Abduction for Purposes

of Trafficking in Persons. According to the GOI, two of these cases

were still being investigated at the time of this report, and the

third case was under review by the State Attorney's Office.



Individual cases are detailed beginning on page 72 of the GOI

response.



In its response, the GOI said that the number of trafficking cases

handled by the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office decreased

significantly, from 100 active cases in 2007 to less than 20 during

this reporting period, and that this decrease was the result of a

decrease in the number of trafficking for prostitution victims due

to "determined enforcement." The GOI noted that most of the cases

in 2008 referred to trafficking that took place in previous years.

The Police and State Attorney give priority to the prosecution of

trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, according to the GOI,

which said in its response that the courts have "espoused broad



TEL AVIV 00000466 017 OF 036





principles of interpretation which allow the conviction of all links

in the chain of trafficking." The GOI added that while sentencing

is "not uniform" it is "increasingly severe, including cases where

traffickers were sentenced to periods of incarceration of 18 and 15

years" and that emphasis was given to the issue of compensation to

victims of trafficking.



LABOR TRAFFICKING



In November 2008, the GOI filed the first indictment for forced

labor under the trafficking law as amended (to include labor

trafficking) in October 2006. The GOI reported that at the time of

this report, four more indictments were in advanced stages of review

in the Central and Southern District State Attorney's Office at the

time of this report, and several more cases were under review by the

Crime Unit of the Immigration Administration. The GOI said that

these investigations were complicated and that it was particularly

hard to prove the causal connection between the coercion and the

worker's continuing to work "in view of the heavy debts foreign

workers incur, which in itself lead them to be willing to work under

difficult conditions" and that under these circumstances it was

"doubly hard to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, as is

required in criminal cases."



In 2008, indictments were filed in 46 cases of fraud and another 37

indictments were filed for fraud against the State and indirect

fraud of a foreign worker, eight indictments were filed in cases of

exploitation of vulnerable populations against foreign workers, and

11 indictments were filed for withholding of a foreign workers'

passport. Criminal judgments the GOI deemed important are detailed

beginning on page 79 of the GOI response, and a number of structural

changes intended to improve investigations and prosecutions are

explained beginning on page 81 of the GOI response.



The Crime Unit in the Immigration Administration, working with the

State Attorney's Office, opened 24 investigation cases concerning

forced labor, and filed one indictment in November. The GOI

reported that four additional indictments were under various stages

of preparation and review by the State Attorney's Office at the time

of this report.



During 2008, the Crime Unit in the Immigration Administration, the

Crime Unit opened 450 investigation cases regarding different

aspects of fraud against foreign workers, including 48 cases of

withholding passports, 16 cases of exploitation of vulnerable

populations, and 24 cases of forced labor. Tables listing all the

completed cases (12 in the reporting period) and pending indictments

(5) during the reporting period are annexed (Annexes 3, 4) in the

GOI response.



Kav LaOved reported that that there are severe problems with law

enforcement in the area of trafficking for labor, slavery and forced

labor. According to Kav LaOved, while the prohibition of

trafficking for these purposes of labor was first introduced in 2006

with the enactment of Israel's comprehensive anti-trafficking law,

law enforcement agencies - particularly the "general" police and the

immigration police - continue to demonstrate lack of awareness to

these phenomena, resulting in "very poor investigation efforts and a

complete disregard for victims." Kav LaOved gave as an example a

complaint filed by a slavery victim from India that has been

investigated for nearly two years, with no result. The complaint was

originally filed with the Tiberius police in March 2007, but Kav

LaOved charged that the police did not conduct any investigation or

even attempt to collect evidence beyond the victim's statement. Kav

LaOved claimed that after months of waiting and "futile" attempts by

Kav LaOved to obtain information on this matter, the police station

confirmed that they indeed did not investigate this case further,

and that the suspects had not even been questioned. After Kav

LaOved filed a complaint with the Ministry of Justice, the

investigation was transferred to the Immigration Police in Haifa,

according to Kav LaOved. Kav LaOved stated that it was difficult to

see how an indictment can be successfully pursued under these

circumstances, given the time that had passed since the crimes were

committed. Kav LaOved also criticized what they called a

"disturbing phenomenon" of "the slow course of action taken by the

police when a victim manages to contact the outside world while

still in the perpetrator's home, and what appears to us as a lack of

a much warranted sense of urgency" even when Kav LaOved brought the

situation to the attention of the authorities.



Kav LaOved complained that no indictments were filed during 2008 (or



TEL AVIV 00000466 018 OF 036





previous years) for charging brokerage fees above legal limit.

Also, the decision of the Supreme Court of March 30, 2006 that found

the "binding arrangement" of migrant workers to their employers

unconstitutional has not been implemented so far, according to Kav

LaOved. The result, in the words of Kav LaOved, is that a foreign

worker who leaves an employer (including for reason of dangerous

working conditions) faces the risk of losing his legal status,

especially if they have already worked in Israel for a period of

longer than 51 months.



Hotline complained that more than two years after the enactment of

the amendments to the trafficking law that criminalized labor

trafficking, not a single indictment has yet been served on

trafficking for the purpose of slavery. Hotline said that cases

they forward for the attention of the authorities are investigated

slowly and negligently, and in most cases are closed. Hotline

reported that of the 11 suspected cases of trafficking for forced

labor that they referred to the Immigration Authority during the

reporting period, three had been closed, in five cases the

authorities decided not to open an investigation (for trafficking),

and two were still being investigated. A detailed examination of

the cases and Hotline's concerns regarding this issue can be found

beginning on page 19 of the Hotline response.



E3. Please note the number of convicted traffickers who received

suspended sentences and the number who received only a fine as

punishment.



No such statistical breakdown provided. Beginning on page 176 of

the GOI response, annexes show results of individual cases, a number

of which included suspended sentences.



E4. Please indicate which laws were used to investigate, prosecute,

convict, and sentence traffickers.



See previous answers.



E5. Also, if possible, please disaggregate numbers of cases by type

of TIP (labor vs. commercial sexual exploitation) and victims

(children under 18 years of age vs. adults).



No such statistical breakdown provided.



E6. If in a labor source country, did the government criminally

prosecute labor recruiters who recruit workers using knowingly

fraudulent or deceptive offers or by imposing fees or commissions

for the purpose of subjecting the worker to debt bondage?



N/A



E7. Did the government in a labor destination country criminally

prosecute employers or labor agents who confiscate workers'

passports/travel documents for the purpose of trafficking, switch

contracts or terms of employment without the worker's consent to

keep workers in a state of service, use physical or sexual abuse or

the threat of such abuse to keep workers in a state of service, or

withhold payment of salaries as a means to keep workers in a state

of service?



Yes. See previous answers. Media coverage followed some cases.

For example, on December 22 the press reported that a suit for

compensation had been filed at the labor court by the Ministry of

Justice's legal aid system on behalf of a victim of slavery. The

suit was filed against the victim's employer, a resident of East

Jerusalem. According to the report, the victim was brought to

Israel by her employer to work in his home seven days a week, 17

hours a day, and was reportedly imprisoned in the house, subjected

to threats, and did not receive medical attention she required. She

escaped and filed a complaint.



E8. What were the actual punishments imposed on persons convicted of

these offenses?



See annexes beginning on page 176 of the GOI response.



E9. Are the traffickers serving the time sentenced? If not, why

not?



The GOI replied yes, "to the best of our knowledge, except those who

fled justice."





TEL AVIV 00000466 019 OF 036





F1. Does the government provide any specialized training for

government officials in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute

instances of trafficking?



Yes, the GOI provided many forms of training on sex and labor

trafficking to a wide variety of government agencies. Numerous

examples, including a seminar for prosecutors, courses at police

training schools, seminars at the Immigration Authority on subjects

like the right to dignity, five days of training on trafficking for

Crime Unit investigators and prosecutors, training for the judges in

the Tribunal for Detention Review, and various sessions directed by

the National Coordinator, are provided beginning on page 86 of the

GOI response. Guidelines on identification of victims were created

and disseminated.



In its reply, Isha L'Isha said that the state showed more interest

in arranging lectures and workshops than in identifying victims of

sex trafficking.



F2. Specify whether NGOs, international organizations, and/or the

USG provide specialized training for host government officials.



NGOs and UGS visitors participated in seminars and consulted on

training, but the GOI did not report any specialized training in

trafficking matters that was provided by NGOs, international

organizations, and/or the USG. Amnesty International Israel

reported that it provided education ("meant to inform, give tools,

change attitudes and arouse responsibility") to security forces with

the support of a State Department grant.



G1. Does the government cooperate with other governments in the

investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases?



The GOI reported that Israeli police cooperated with its colleagues

from Former Soviet Union countries and Western Europe in

international investigations of trafficking cases, focusing on

Israeli felons abroad. The Israeli Police also cooperated in

assisting investigations abroad related to Israel, according to the

GOI, which said that these investigations often resulted in the

extradition of suspects for crimes committed in Israel. The GOI

reported that it maintained close cooperation with other governments

in cases requiring extradition and legal assistance.



Isha L'Isha praised the Tel-Aviv police for proving "again and again

its vigor and initiative" in investigating sex trafficking, and

noted that the unit collaborated with Russia and Ukraine on some

cases.



Hotline was less sanguine about efforts to combat labor trafficking.

It reported that on January 21, 2009, the Knesset Committee for

Migrant Workers "blasted" the Cabinet for failing to regulate the

entry of foreign workers into Israel. Hotline quoted the Committee

head, Ran Cohen, as saying "Foreign workers are being imported in

the most corrupt way imaginable. Millions, perhaps billions reach

the black market in an illegal, immoral trade that blackens Israel

in the world." Hotline argued that over the past three years, the

Cabinet has repeatedly decided to bring in migrant workers via the

International Organization for Migration, but that its decisions

have not been implemented, leaving the job to middlemen who charge

each worker $5,000 to $20,000.



G2. If possible, provide the number of cooperative international

investigations on trafficking during the reporting period.



The GOI reported that four international trafficking in person's

investigations in 2008 led to the arrest of suspects and the

locating of trafficking victims. It did not provide a larger

numerical survey on such investigations, but examples of cooperation

are provided beginning on page 89 of the GOI response.



H. Does the government extradite persons who are charged with

trafficking in other countries? If so, please provide the number of

traffickers extradited during the reporting period, and the number

of trafficking extraditions pending. In particular, please report on

any pending or concluded extraditions of trafficking offenders to

the United States.



The GOI reported that according to Israel's Extradition Law

5714-1954, the State may extradite Israeli nationals charged with

any offense where the maximum sentence is one year or more. No

numerical breakdown or cases of extradition to the United States



TEL AVIV 00000466 020 OF 036





were reported, but examples are provided on pages 90 and 91 of the

GOI response.



I. Is there evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of

trafficking, on a local or institutional level? If so, please

explain in detail.



The GOI replied that Israeli government authorities unequivocally

condemn all forms of trafficking, do not facilitate or condone

trafficking, are not in any way complicit in these activities, and

the Israeli Police and its agents vigorously combat the trafficking

phenomenon.



Isha L'Isha reported that it saw no involvement in or tolerance of

trafficking by government officials.



Kav LaOved complained about what it called a tolerance of

trafficking "evident by the disregard for phenomena that facilitate

the conditions for trafficking" but said that it was unaware of any

direct government involvement in trafficking.



Hotline stated that it had no information of any government

involvement in trafficking, but reiterated complaints of what it

considered the Government's lack of action, and suggested that

reflected a tolerance of trafficking.



J1. If government officials are involved in trafficking, what steps

has the government taken to end such participation?



The only relevant example we are aware is an old case that was

detailed in a January 15, 2009 Haaretz article about a policeman who

had been charged several years prior with nine different bribe

indictments, but had all charges dropped in December 2008. The

policeman, Iliya Strashnoy, had been arrested in 2000 after the

Police Investigation Unit at the Ministry of Justice acquired

evidence according to which Strashnoy collected thousands of USD

from pimps and in return "sold" the pimps trafficked women who were

arrested in brothels. In December 2006, the Public Attorney

informed the court that their main witness disappeared, and on

December 2008, after no success in locating him, he removed the

indictments. According to the article, Strashnoy submitted a

request to rejoin the police force and his request is being

considered.



J2. Please indicate the number of government officials investigated

and prosecuted for involvement in trafficking or trafficking-related

corruption during the reporting period.



Some cases of abuse of foreign workers were investigated, but no new

cases of corruption were reported. Details of the abuses cases can

be found beginning on page 93 of the GOI response.



J3. Have any been convicted?



An indictment filed on March, 5, 2007 against a police officer and

another 11 persons involved in a case of corruption, bribery,

gambling and prostitution. One defendant, an Immigration

Administration officer who served on the relevant dates as a

detective in the Ben-Gurion Airport, was accused of using his status

and his authority as a police officer to commit serious criminal

offenses. On November 16, 2008, the defendant was convicted, among

other offenses, of owning a brothel, owning a place for the purpose

of gambling, bribe, conspiracy to commit a crime. He was sentenced

to 4.5 years imprisonment and 18 month conditional imprisonment.



J5. Please specify if officials received suspended sentences, or

were given a fine, fired, or reassigned to another position within

the government as punishment.



N/A



J6. Please indicate the number of convicted officials that received

suspended sentences or received only a fine as punishment.



N/A



K1. 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?





TEL AVIV 00000466 021 OF 036





Prostitution is not considered legal and is not regulated. The

activities of prostitutes and clients are not criminalized, but the

activities of pimps, brothel owners/operators, and enforcers are

criminalized, including crimes such as pandering for purpose of

prostitution, causing a person to engage in one or more acts of

prostitution, maintaining a place for the purpose of prostitution,

renting out premises for prostitution, purchasing the prostitution

services of minors, and publicizing the prostitution services of

minors.



K2. Are these laws enforced?



Yes, although various sources disagreed on the level of vigor in the

enforcement. According to the GOI, "these laws are enforced when

relevant."



K3. If prostitution is legal and regulated, what is the legal

minimum age for this activity? Note that in countries with

federalist systems, prostitution laws may be under state or local

jurisdiction and may differ among jurisdictions.



N/A



L. For countries that contribute troops to international

peacekeeping efforts, please indicate whether the government

vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced

nationals of the country deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping

or other similar mission who engaged in or facilitated severe forms

of trafficking or who exploited victims of such trafficking.



N/A



M1. If the country has an identified problem of child sex tourists

coming to the country, what are the countries of origin for sex

tourists?



There are no reports of child sex tourists coming to Israel.



M2. How many foreign pedophiles did the government prosecute or

deport/extradite to their country of origin?



None reported.



M3. If your host country's nationals are perpetrators of child sex

tourism, do the country's child sexual abuse laws have

extraterritorial coverage (similar to the U.S. PROTECT Act) to allow

the prosecution of suspected sex tourists for crimes committed

abroad? If so, how many of the country's nationals were prosecuted

and/or convicted during the reporting period under the

extraterritorial provision(s) for traveling to other countries to

engage in child sex tourism?



Sections 203C of the Penal Law criminalize purchase of prostitution

services of a minor and Section 15(b) of the Penal Law allows

extraterritorial coverage of "offenses of prostitution and obscenity

performed against a minor or in relation to a minor regardless of

the place of the commission of the offense, provided it was

performed by an Israeli citizen." The police reported no cases in

2008 relating to section 203C.



--------------

5. PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS

--------------



A1. What kind of protection is the government able under existing

law to provide for victims and witnesses?



In 2007, the Prime Minister approved two inter-ministerial plans,

the first for the treatment of sexual assault victims, and the

second for the rehabilitation and treatment of women and girls

engaged in prostitution in order to assist them in breaking from the

cycle of prostitution. The GOI reported that each allocated with

NIS 10 million ($2,500,000) and were initiated during 2008. Details

of the plan can be found beginning on page 173 of the GOI response.



A2. Does it provide these protections in practice?



Isha L'Isha reported that there is no witness protection program in

Israel and therefore there is "not necessarily" protection for women

who give evidence in trafficking cases.





TEL AVIV 00000466 022 OF 036





Kav LaOved noted that while the Ministry of the Interior's

procedures published in July 2008 (for issuing work permits to

victims of trafficking for slavery and forced labor authorized work

permits to be given to eligible victims for a period one year)

represents progress, certain provisions in the new procedure "raise

concern." According to Kav LaOved, the list of requirements and

documents the victim needs to submit need the support on an NGO,

which the victim might not have access to or even be aware of. The

procedure also requires the victim to declare if any family members

are residing in Israel. Kav LaOved called this information

"completely irrelevant" and voiced concern that it would

"undoubtedly deter victims from applying for work permits, given

that Israeli law prohibits migrant workers' first-degree family

members from residing in Israel." Kav LaOved also complained that

the procedure requires translations the victims often cannot afford,

and stipulates that any extension of the "insufficient" one-year

work permit will be granted in "exceptional" cases only.



Kav LaOved reported that the Ministry of Interior's understanding of

who may be recognized as an eligible trafficking victim is

"extremely narrow." They gave the example of an individual they

described as a slavery victim from Indian caregiver who worked 7

days a week, 16 hours a day, could not refuse any type of work

(housekeeping for an extended family along with her caregiver

duties),was not permitted to leave the home, was paid well below

the minimum wage, was sexually assaulted by both the employer and

his brother, and threatened with deportation and even death if she

complained to the authorities.



Kav LaOved filed a complaint with the police, and with MITL, who

revoked the employer's permit. According to Kav LaOved, despite all

these facts - the ongoing police investigation, the MITL findings on

the basis of which the employer's permit was revoked, and "even

threat letters sent to Kav LaOved's attorney from the perpetrators,

demanding the organization will stop providing legal assistance to

the victim" - the Ministry of the Interior initially decided to

reject the victim's application for a work permit "due to the fact

that there was still not a decisive statement by the authorities

that she is a trafficking victim."



Hotline praised the idea behind the Ministry of Interior procedure

(circulated July 1, 2008) for granting rehabilitation visas to

victims of slavery and forced labor, but raised issues with the

wording, process, and implementation. A lengthy analysis of their

concerns can be found beginning on page 30 of Hotline's response.



B1. Does the country have victim care facilities (shelters or

drop-in centers) which are accessible to trafficking victims?



The Maagan shelter in Tel Aviv, established in February 2004,

provided shelter and services throughout the reporting period to

victims of trafficking for prostitution.



According to Isha L'Isha, the shelter is reluctant to accept women

with children and rejected all of the NGO's applications to accept

trafficked women with children. Isha L'Isha reported that the

shelter was under the supervision of the police, but complained that

police have to get approval from the Ministry of Interior, which

Isha L'Isha said rejects all applications, "especially if the woman

has children and doesn't testify." Isha L'Isha noted that the

shelter for battered women is also reluctant to accept women with

children. According to Isha L'Isha, the government provides

assistance to women in the Maagan Shelter, but woman outside the

shelter "have no rights."



Hotline was critical of what it said was the Shelter's reluctance to

take women with serious illnesses. Hotline also complained that

authorities do not identify slavery victims, and that only victims

that Hotline identifies and refer to the authorities receive some

rights. Hotline was positive on the legal aid system, which it said

depends on the victims' affidavits and Hotline's contacts and does

not wait for a police decision to proceed. Hotline said that his

was not the case with the Ministry of the Interior, however, and

complained that until the Immigration Authority confirms that it has

investigated the case and found a reasonable suspicion that the

person was a trafficking victim, Interior will not grant rights.

Hotline reported that in a petition it submitted on January 13, 2009

in the case of a trafficking victim from Nepal (whose story is

presented in Hotline's Appendix A case B2(2)),it argued that the

administrative authority must apply its own discretion and cannot

rely solely on the determination of the investigative authority, and



TEL AVIV 00000466 023 OF 036





noted that the investigative authority must produce evidence that

can convict a defendant in criminal proceedings beyond all

reasonable doubt, while an administrative authority is not

restricted to such evidence.



B2. Do foreign victims have the same access to care as domestic

trafficking victims?



The facilities described in B1 are designated to serve foreign

trafficking victims, rather than domestic trafficking victims. The

GOI reported that it has not yet encountered Israeli victims who

need such facilities.



B3. Where are child victims placed (e.g., in shelters, foster care,

or juvenile justice detention centers)?



Israel does not have an identified child sex trafficking problem.

Hotline reported that in the last two years, about 200 unaccompanied

minors arrived in Israel through Egypt, with the majority arriving

during the reporting period. Hotline noted that "only lately" had

they started to suspect that some of them might have been

trafficking victims. According to Hotline, 30 of the minors are

still in prison "since no other place has been arranged for them

outside of prison." Further details can be found beginning on page

6 of the Hotline response.



B4. Does the country have specialized care for adults in addition to

children?



The staff of the Maagan Shelter includes a Director, three social

workers, a housemother, seven counselors, a secretary, a maintenance

manager, and a security officer. A physician visits twice weekly

and a psychiatrist visits when necessary (both the physician and

psychiatrist speak Russian),teachers provide enrichment sessions,

and numerous volunteers provide a variety of services. The Director

is a lawyer and a social worker and is well acquainted with the

trafficking problem. Her role is to operate the shelter and

coordinate with the women, the staff, the Police, the Courts, the

Legal Aid lawyers, and foreign embassies and consulates of the

women's countries of origin.



The GOI reported that the shelter operates according to the

therapeutic community model, thus every intervention is performed

with an overall holistic view to enable proper attention to be given

to every aspect of the women's' needs. The staff receives ongoing

training on the treatment of victims of trafficking.



Sex trafficking victims have the right to free legal aid in order to

institute civil suits arising from the trafficking offenses

committed against them or administrative procedures relating to the

Entry to Israel Law. They are also eligible for assistance with

parenthood claims against Israeli partners. The GOI reported that

the aid is not contingent on economic criteria. According to Courts

(Fees) Regulations 5767-2007, victims of trafficking and slavery

given legal aid are exempt from paying court fees. Legal aid

lawyers come to the shelter to interview the women and provide

services.



During 2008, seven children resided in the shelter with their

mothers. Four of the five children residing in the shelter at the

time of this report were placed in educational programs outside the

shelter.



Isha L'Isha reported that women received medical care if she was in

the Maagan Shelter, but that victims not in the shelter received no

medical care unless she paid for the insurance. In shelters for

battered women there is no option of free medical care for foreign

women, according to Isha L'Isha, which said that the Ministry of

Health rejected all requests, even "severe humanitarian cases", and

didn't permit medical treatment to be provided to women who were

outside the shelter.



B5. Does the country have specialized care for male victims as well

as female?



The GOI reported that it has not encountered any male victims of sex

trafficking. Regarding male victims of labor trafficking, the

Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services committed funds in

2008 towards the operation of three facilities for victims of labor

trafficking - a shelter for female trafficking victims, another

shelter for male trafficking victims, and three short-term



TEL AVIV 00000466 024 OF 036





apartments for victims who do not require long term assistance. NGO

Keshet, which developed the Maagan Shelter for female victims of sex

trafficking, was chosen to run the new shelter. Keshet located a

suitable location that will include different divisions for men and

women, and was renovating the facility at the time of this report.

Kav LaOved confirmed the GOI's description.



B6. Does the country have specialized facilities dedicated to

helping victims of trafficking?



See answers in B1.



B7. Are these facilities operated by the government or by NGOs?



The Maagan shelter operates under the responsibility and supervision

of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, and is run by

the non-profit association Keshet. The shelter is financed by the

Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services as regards its

rehabilitative function and by the Ministry of Public Security as

regards security aspects (including guarding the shelter, providing

protection for the women, and accompanying them to courts and the

District Attorney's office.) A steering committee for the shelter

decides on matters of policy and practice. The GOI reported that

the same system will apply to the shelters for victims of

trafficking for slavery and forced labor.



B8. What is the funding source of these facilities? Please estimate

the amount the government spent (in U.S. dollar equivalent) on these

specialized facilities dedicated to helping trafficking victims

during the reporting period.



The budget of the shelter comes from the Ministry of Social Affairs

and Social Services and the Ministry of Public Security, while the

Ministry of Justice provides legal assistance and the Ministry of

Health finances health services. In 2008, the Ministry of Social

Affairs and Social Services allocated NIS 3,766,000 ($911,500) for

operating the shelter, the Ministry of Public Security allocated NIS

1,000,000 ($250,000) for security, and the Ministry of Health

allocated NIS 360,000 ($90,000) for medical care.



C1. Does the government provide trafficking victims with access to

legal, medical and psychological services? If so, please specify

the kind of assistance provided.



See answers in B4 for description of services to victims of

trafficking for the purpose of prostitution. According to Kav

LaOved, victims of labor trafficking and slavery are entitled to

state funded legal assistance, but not victims of forced labor. Kav

LaOved reported that no medical or psychological help is offered to

victims of trafficking for labor, including victims of sexual crimes

(other than prostitution) but there are plans to do so with the

introduction of the shelters described in B5.



C2. Does the government provide funding or other forms of support to

foreign or domestic NGOs and/or international organizations for

providing these services to trafficking victims?



In conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, the International

Organization for Migration (IOM),the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),additional Israeli governmental

organizations, and Israeli NGOs, the Center of International

Migration and Integration (CIMI) launched a comprehensive Migration

Management Capacity Building Program in 2008. The two-year program

(to be implemented during 2009 and 2010) is based on legislative and

policy processes already underway and will provide training and

awareness raising campaigns, bilateral exchanges, study-visits, and

research to government officials working with migrant populations.

Details on the program can be found beginning on page 112 of the GOI

response.



The GOI signed an agreement with IOM and the Government of Thailand

regarding the recruitment of Thai agricultural workers for work in

Israel. This ongoing program is aimed at creating a climate

unfriendly to trafficking, and to prevent the exploitation of

workers by middlemen demanding high fees that leave the workers at

the mercy of the manpower agencies and employers.



Details on safe returns can be found beginning on page 104 of the

GOI response.



C3. Please explain and provide any funding amounts in U.S. dollar



TEL AVIV 00000466 025 OF 036





equivalent. If assistance provided was in-kind, please specify

exact assistance.



No details provided.



C4. Please specify if funding for assistance comes from a federal

budget or from regional or local governments.



No details provided.



D. Does the government assist foreign trafficking victims, for

example, by providing temporary to permanent residency status, or

other relief from deportation? If so, please explain.



TRAFFICKING FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROSTITUTION



The GOI described the process as follows:

All trafficking victims in the Maagan Shelter receive temporary

visas, plus work visas if they are in the process of testifying, or

if they apply for humanitarian visas whether they choose to testify

or not. Women who choose to testify receive a visa for the duration

of the court proceedings (which on average takes a year.) After

legal proceedings are concluded, the women are entitled to request a

temporary visa for another year, as with victims who chose not to

testify. The set period for these visas is one year, though in

special circumstances the period may be longer or shorter. It is

not a prerequisite that victims reside in the shelter in order to

receive year long temporary visas.



The GOI reported that in 2008, five women received a B1 visa (stay

and work) for six months; one woman received a B2 visa (stay only)

for three months; five women received an extension of their visa

following their testimony; three women received an inter-visa

allowing its holder to leave the country and return within a

designated time (without needing to re-apply),during their

testimonies; 11 women received a one-year visa for humanitarian

reasons; and two women received a visa for an additional year.



Isha L'Isha agreed that trafficked women received visas from the

Ministry of Interior "under limited conditions", but complained that

the Ministry of Interior didn't give permanent status to single

foreign women with Israeli children. Isha L'Isha described these

women as being under great distress due to their lack of status and

subsequent lack of benefits from the National Insurance Institute,

and called the situation "a closed circle in which the Ministry of

Interior doesn't allow women to live in dignity and welfare."



TRAFFICKING FOR THE PURPOSE OF LABOR



On July 1, 2008, the Ministry of the Interior published a written

procedure for granting visas to victims of slavery, trafficking for

slavery and forced labor. The GOI reported that during 2008, the

Ministry of the Interior granted three victims preliminary three

month visas; nine victims received an extension of their visas; two

victims received an "inter-visa"; two persons received a one-year

visa for rehabilitation purposes, and one person received a visa for

an additional year.



Foreign workers who filed complaints regarding criminal offenses are

not generally arrested. According to the GOI, the Ministry of the

Interior and the Immigration Administration try to place them in

alternate employment during their stay for testimony, and they are

released with a special document issued by the Immigration

Administration - that need to be renewed monthly - indicating that

they are witnesses in an ongoing investigation. Following the

completion of their testimony, foreign workers are given what the

GOI called a "reasonable period to arrange for their departure."





E. Does the government provide longer-term shelter or housing

benefits to victims or other resources to aid the victims in

rebuilding their lives?



The GOI reported that women who are in the process of testifying or

have been accorded visas for humanitarian reasons are entitled to a

working visa. Maagan Shelter personnel find employment for women

"who are ready and willing to work", according to the GOI, which

said that most of these women work outside the shelter in

restaurants, clothing stores, cosmetics firms, bakeries, and other

fields. The GOI reported that as of December 2008, 20 women of the

25 women residing in the shelter were employed outside the shelter.



TEL AVIV 00000466 026 OF 036







The GOI reported that while Israel does have a shelter for victims

of trafficking for prostitution and is in the final stages of

establishing shelters for victims of trafficking for slavery and

forced labor, it is the policy of the State of Israel that after

completion of the rehabilitation period, and following a risk

assessment, trafficking victims should return to their countries of

origin.



F. Does the government have a referral process to transfer victims

detained, arrested or placed in protective custody by law

enforcement authorities to institutions that provide short- or

long-term care (either government or NGO-run)?



Kav LaOved reported that it was not aware of any such process.



Regarding sex trafficking, the GOI reported that according to the

procedures initiated by the Immigration Administration in

conjunction with the Ministry of the Interior and the Police,

trafficking victims are immediately referred to the Maagan Shelter

without having to pass through detention facilities. According to

the GOI, every trafficking victim identified in 2008 was transferred

to the Maagan Shelter unless she refused to go, or unless a court

order to place them in a different location, mostly with Israeli

partners.



Regarding labor trafficking, the GOI reported that foreign nationals

who were detained went through several screening and monitoring

procedures. When needed, the detainee receives medical treatment

before being sent to a detention facility. The detainee is also

interviewed by a police officer, and is entitled to a hearing before

a representative of the Ministry of the Interior, according to the

GOI. NGOs representatives are also given access to detention

facilities where they can assist foreign workers, and can be present

at Tribunal hearings, with the foreign worker's approval. Six

female labor trafficking victims were transferred to the Maagan

shelter in 2008.



Isha L'Isha reported that the police contacted them during the year

and asked the NGO to explain proper procedures for admitting a woman

into a shelter.



G1. What is the total number of trafficking victims identified

during the reporting period?



The GOI reported that it is difficult to provide an exact number of

persons trafficked into Israel every year for the purpose of

prostitution "as most victims do not identify themselves as such,

and, as a rule, do not immediately submit complaints to the law

enforcement agencies unless encouraged to do so." The GOI

nevertheless claimed a sharp decline in the number of women

trafficked for prostitution in Israel, which it said was evident in

the number of trafficking victims located by law enforcement

agencies, as well as by the Knesset Subcommittee on Trafficking and

NGOs. The GOI reported that 12 sex trafficking victims were

transferred by the Police to the Maagan Shelter in 2008, and said

that most of the victims had been trafficked several years ago. The

Maagan Shelter housed 25 women and 5 children (of women staying at

the shelter) at the time of this report.



Isha L'Isha reported that it identified 41 new cases of sex

trafficking in 2008.



Hotline reported that it we assisted a total of 45 trafficking

victims in 2008, including 25 slavery victims and 20 prostitution

victims, and that 16 of the 45 were new cases from 2008 (12 for

slavery and 4 for prostitution) plus two victims identified in

January 2009. Hotline said that only one of these individuals was

referred by the authorities (the Immigration Authority) for the

NGO's assistance. Hotline noted that five of the slavery victims

are men, "for whom no appropriate framework is available."



Six female victims of trafficking for labor resided in the Maagan

Shelter in 2008. The Crime Unit in the Immigration Administration,

working with the State Attorney's Office, opened 24 investigation

cases in 2008 concerning forced labor, of which one indictment was

filed in November, and four additional indictments were under

various stages of preparation and review by the State Attorney's

Office at the time of this report.



G2. Of these, how many victims were referred to care facilities for



TEL AVIV 00000466 027 OF 036





assistance by law enforcement authorities during the reporting

period?



The GOI reported that all women referred to the Maagan Shelter in

2008 were referred by the Police.



G3. By social services officials?



None, according to the GOI.



G4. What is the number of victims assisted by government-funded

assistance programs and those not funded by the government during

the reporting period?



The Maagan Shelter provided services to 44 women and 7 children

during 2008.



H1. Do the government's law enforcement, immigration, and social

services personnel have a formal system of proactively identifying

victims of trafficking among high-risk persons with whom they come

in contact (e.g., foreign persons arrested for prostitution or

immigration violations)?



Isha L'Isha noted some problems in identification. They reported a

few cases during 2008 where women (that Isha L'Isha considered

trafficking victims) who had been arrested by the Immigration Police

were not recognized as trafficking victims by the immigration

judges. Isha L'Isha also noted that there were some women who had

been trafficked in earlier years that were not recognized as

trafficking victims by the judges at the time, and presumably were

not therefore eligible for services and legal support that they were

entitled to.



The Immigration Administration issued guidelines regarding the

identification and location of sex trafficking victims both in the

field and in the detention facilities, including specific training

and circulation of the relevant guidelines, and kept in contact with

relevant NGOs to improve identification efforts.



A subcommittee appointed by the Committee of Directors General that

deals with trafficking submitted recommendations on indicators and

procedures for indentify labor trafficking victims. These

recommendations were approved by the Committee of Directors General

in May of 2008 and were disseminated to the Immigration

Administration, the Police, the Ministry of the Interior, the State

and District Attorney's Offices, NGOs, judges of the Detention

Tribunal.



The GOI reported that every officer of the Immigration

Administration undergoes training and seminars on the identification

and location of trafficking victims, and are required to be

proactive because "often the victims themselves are not aware of

their situation, and therefore proper training of the police

officers engaging with them is crucial." NGO representatives are

allowed routine entry to the detention facilities to interview the

inhabitants and to assess whether they are victims of offenses. The

NGOs inform the Immigration Administration of such cases, according

to the GOI, which added that following their complaint, the foreign

worker is interviewed by an officer to address these concerns. The

GOI noted that Special Detention Tribunal judges are "well informed

of the characteristics of trafficking victims" and alert the

Immigration Administration of cases they suspect are trafficking

related.



Kav LaOved confirmed that the inter-ministerial task force on

trafficking in persons issued guidelines relating to the

identification of labor trafficking victims in January 2008 and

recommended that all relevant government agencies issue procedures

for identifying trafficking victims for slavery and forced labor

based on these guidelines. Kav LaOved reported that their

experience, however, demonstrated that these guidelines were not

implemented in practice, and that there was a "general failure of

the authorities to identify victims of trafficking, despite the fact

that at junctions such as custody and deportation centers, if

migrant workers were questioned properly, it would be possible to

identify such victims."



Kav LaOved also argued that according to MITL regulations, a

manpower agency dealing with caregivers must send a social worker to

check the suitability between the employer and employee from time to

time. Kav LaOved complained that these social workers are employees



TEL AVIV 00000466 028 OF 036





of the agency, and that impartial social workers (who are public

officers) should pay such visits and make sure that the migrant

worker is not being treated in a manner that constitutes slavery or

forced labor.



H2. For countries with legalized prostitution, does the government

have a mechanism for screening for trafficking victims among persons

involved in the legal/regulated commercial sex trade?



N/A



I1. Are the rights of victims respected?



Yes. Isha L'Isha reported "stereotyped responses" in some

departments and said that a "lot of work is required with the

police" but agreed that women's rights were respected. Hotline

agreed that the women's rights are respected.



I2. Are trafficking victims detained or jailed? If so, for how

long?



Kav LaOved reported that if the victim has no visa, he or she is

detained in order to be deported and brought before the Custody

Tribunal (located at the detention center) within four days. Kav

LaOved noted that the Tribunal might release the victim on bail if

it is convinced that the victim has "a good chance of sorting out

their status, and if it is convinced that they will leave the

country if they fail to sort out their legal status."



I3. Are victims fined?



No.



I4. Are victims prosecuted for violations of other laws, such as

those governing immigration or prostitution?



No.



The GOI reported that it has been the policy of the Police and

prosecutors from the State Attorney's Office not to indict victims

of trafficking for crimes which are integral to trafficking, and

said that trafficking victims are also not generally to be indicted

on crimes integral to trafficking "even if they have been found to

return to Israel illegally several times." The GOI stated that it

has been established that women answering the basic criteria of a

victim should be presumed to be a victim unless proven otherwise.



The GOI reported that labor trafficking victims are treated in a

similar manner. The Government perceives illegal migrants as

victims and they are removed without being subject to criminal

proceedings, according to the GOI, which said that emphasis is

placed on prosecuting the employers and the manpower companies that

facilitated the offenses. The GOI reported that in many cases the

Government subsidized the cost of the workers' ticket back to their

countries of origin, and before they left the country aided them in

collecting money owed to them.



J1. Does the government encourage victims to assist in the

investigation and prosecution of trafficking?



The GOI reported that it was a matter of Police policy to encourage

victims of trafficking to testify against traffickers and to "try to

ensure that traffickers will be prosecuted and will not subject

additional women to abuse." Isha L'Isha agreed that Maagan Shelter

("alone") provided such assistance, but said that if the woman was

not in the shelter "she had no rights."



For labor trafficking victims, the GOI said "if a foreign worker

wishes to file a complaint, every effort is made to encourage

him/her in doing so."



Kav LaOved reported that they often find law enforcement agencies do

not act "decisively and vigorously" to investigate and prosecute

cases of labor trafficking, and that even when they do investigate,

"there is no parallel assistance provided to the victims, which

therefore does not encourage them to file complaints."



Hotline said that, as a general rule, women slavery victims accepted

to the Maagan Shelter received assistance in giving testimony.



J2. How many victims assisted in the investigation and prosecution



TEL AVIV 00000466 029 OF 036





of traffickers during the reporting period?



The GOI reported that 4 of the 12 victims of trafficking for

prostitution referred to the Maagan Shelter in 2008 agreed to

testify "but were eventually not required to do so" and that three

women were "in the process of testifying" at the time of this

report. The GOI noted that the percentage of women staying in the

shelter who choose to testify "continues to decline."



J3. May victims file civil suits or seek legal action against

traffickers?



The GOI reported that sex trafficking victims have the right by law

to receive free legal aid in order to initiate civil suits arising

from the trafficking offenses committed against them, or

administrative procedures relating to the Entry to Israel Law. The

GOI noted that these victims are also assisted with parenthood

claims against Israeli partners, and that the aid is not contingent

on economic criteria. The Legal Aid Branch provides services

regardless of the date of their victimization. The GOI reported that

in 2008, Legal Aid lawyers assisted three individuals in requests

for a work permit and a visa, and that in two cases temporary visas

were granted and another request was being reviewed at the time of

this report by the Ministry of the Interior. The GOI reported that

nine total requests for legal aid were received, eight in the Tel

Aviv bureau and one in the Jerusalem bureau, including four cases of

assistance in civil claims.



Details on awards may be found beginning on page 124 of the GOI

response.



Kav LaOved reported that legally victims file civil suits or seek

legal action against traffickers, but practically, they seldom do.

Victims whose rights under employment laws are violated (e.g. paid

below minimum wage) have good success rates in the Labor Court,

according to Kav LaOved, who said that these violations are easily

proven (the burden of proof being frequently on the employer),labor

courts are relatively accessible (court fees are low),hearings are

relatively swift, and there are many lawyers working in this field

who are willing to work for a contingent fee. Kav LaOved noted that

when suing the traffickers for more serious harm resulting from

slavery or forced labor, the Justice Ministry does provides legal

assistance to victims of trafficking, but that the process is

lengthy, requires additional funds (travel to court hearings,

providing a translator) and the chances of winning a successful

judgment are "very low."



J4. Does anyone impede victim access to such legal redress?



Kav LaOved reported that traffickers sometimes threaten victims

and/or their family members abroad, and that recruitment agents

often tell victims that if they seek legal redress they will not be

able to find further employment (through them or other agencies) and

will therefore be exposed to deportation. But there were no

complaints from NGOs of authorities impeding access to legal

redress.



J5. If a victim is a material witness in a court case against a

former employer, is the victim permitted to obtain other employment

or to leave the country pending trial proceedings?



Sex trafficking victims residing at the Maagan Shelter were able to

obtain employment. The GOI did not comment on whether the victims

were able to leave the country pending trial proceedings. On July

1, 2008, the Ministry of the Interior published a written procedure

for granting visas to victims of slavery and trafficking for slavery

and forced labor. The GOI reported that under this new procedure,

three persons received preliminary three months visas, nine persons

received an extension of their visa, two persons received an

"inter-visa", two persons received a one-year rehabilitation visa,

and another person received a visa for an additional year.



Hotline noted that victims may leave Israel during the civil

proceedings, and added that these proceedings are not considered

grounds for remaining in Israel by the Ministry of the Interior.

Hotline said that if the state sues someone, they must remain in

Israel, whatever their conditions, but when the individual sues, the

state will not enable them to remain in Israel until the proceedings

are completed if this is the only grounds for being present in

Israel.





TEL AVIV 00000466 030 OF 036





J6. Are there means by which a victim may obtain restitution?



Israel does not have a restitution program by which every victim may

receive compensation without a court case, but domestic law accords

victims of trafficking (as part of the group of people who can

substantiate a case) the right to file civil and administrative

suits. Civil suits have been filed in the Labor Courts and the

regular court system, claiming compensation by tort law, contract

law or "unjust enrichment" law. In addition to compensation in

civil cases, trafficking victims are entitled to be compensated up

to a sum of NIS 228,000 ($57,000) under Section 77 of the Penal Law,

for each count.



Kav LaOved noted that the October 2006 Anti Trafficking Law provides

that money confiscated from traffickers will be put in a fund, and

that at least half of the money in the fund will be used for the

"rehabilitation" of victims of trafficking, with a portion of the

money to be reserved to compensate victims who cannot collect their

compensation from the trafficker ordered by a civil court. Kav

LaOved commented that regulations governing the operation of the

fund were drafted, but have not been enacted into law yet.



K1. Does the government provide any specialized training for

government officials in identifying trafficking victims and in the

provision of assistance to trafficked victims, including the special

needs of trafficked children?



See previous answers for government programs. Isha L'Isha reported

that the state also made an effort to establish databases of

trafficking victims.



K2. Does the government provide training on protections and

assistance to its embassies and consulates in foreign countries that

are destination or transit countries?



A section about trafficking in persons is part of the training

program that Israeli diplomats undergo before starting their mission

abroad as head of consular departments at Israeli embassies. The

GOI reported that Israeli embassies are also in contact with NGOs as

part of their routine work, including NGOs that deal with

trafficking. Israeli Embassies cooperated with NGOs in the

distribution of information about the dangers of trafficking and in

facilitating the safe return of victims to their countries.



K3. What is the number of trafficking victims assisted by the host

country's embassies or consulates abroad during the reporting

period?



The GOI said that as - apart from "a few isolated cases" - there is

no identified problem of trafficking from Israel, such assistance

was not required. The GOI added that such a mechanism will be

considered "if the need arises."



K4. Please explain the type of assistance provided (travel

documents, referrals to assistance, payment for transportation

home).



The GOI reported that representatives of the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs participated in conferences, working groups, and other

events organized on the topic of trafficking in persons by civil

society, and that the Ministry, through its Embassies, assisted NGOs

in various administrative and consular matters.



L. Does the government provide assistance, such as medical aid,

shelter, or financial help, to its nationals who are repatriated as

victims of trafficking?



N/A



M1. Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, work with

trafficking victims?



Israeli NGOs work cooperatively with The International Organization

for Migration (IOM) and numerous NGOs in other countries, including,

Winrock International, La Strada, The Assistance Center of St.

Petersburg, and local NGOs in Ukraine.



Numerous Israeli NGOs work with trafficking victims. The following

is only a partial listing.



Kav LaOved assists victims of trafficking for slavery and forced



TEL AVIV 00000466 031 OF 036





labor. It provides mainly information and legal and paralegal

assistance.



The Hotline for Migrant Workers assists both victims of trafficking

for sexual exploitation and victims of labor exploitation (including

minors.) It provides legal and paralegal assistance and visits

detainees in detention centers.



Isha L'Isha assists victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.



Physicians for Human Rights assists foreign workers by providing

humanitarian health assistance, including to victims of

trafficking.



The Israeli AIDS Task Force provides medication to victims that have

AIDS, as well as emotional aid as necessary.



Machon Todaa works with Israeli prostitutes.



Kav LaOved reported that it continues to receive excellent

cooperation from the National Coordinator, and some cooperation from

the Immigration Police, but almost no cooperation from the Ministry

of Interior. It reported some cooperation from MITL with regard to

revoking licenses and permits and with employers and recruitments,

but very little cooperation with regard to the issuance of

indictments.



Hotline stated that the authorities rely heavily on NGOs for the

provision of various services, such as identification and healthcare

in HIV cases. Hotline reported that it received no government

funding, and as far as they knew, neither did any other NGOs, other

than the Maagan Shelter.



M2. What type of services do they provide?



Services in Israel are provided by Israeli NGOs, but NGOs in other

countries are important partners in gathering information (including

evidence) and reintegrating victims. The local offices of

International organizations such as Amnesty International and

Physicians for Human Rights operate essentially as Israeli NGOs.

The GOI initiated an agreement between Thailand and IOM to supervise

recruitment of foreign workers from Thailand.



M3. What sort of cooperation do they receive from local

authorities?



This varies depending on the country. They receive good cooperation

from the GOI when called for, but normally work through Israeli

NGOs.



--------------

6. PREVENTION

--------------



A1. Did the government conduct anti-trafficking information or

education campaigns during the reporting period? If so, briefly

describe the campaign(s),including their objectives and

effectiveness.



According to the GOI, the National Coordinator emphasized education

and information. On various occasions she lectured army units, the

city of Kfar Saba, municipality workers in Beer Sheva, university

students, and social workers for the Ministry of Social Affairs and

Social Welfare, among others. The National Coordinator also

disseminated information on trafficking via an internet site and via

a weekly digest sent to entities within and outside of the

Government. She prepared an annual document on Government

anti-trafficking efforts that is posted on her office's website, and

wrote articles for publication.



Members of the State Attorney's Office and the Legal Aid Branch of

the Ministry of Justice gave several public lectures on trafficking.

The Authority for the Advancement of Women sponsored several

anti-trafficking seminars throughout the country. The Ministry of

Education prepared a booklet on trafficking in women that is

scheduled for distribution to the members of the secondary education

system. The Ministry of Education also held four conferences on

human dignity and trafficking for 517 members of the education

system. 4,072 students and 258 teachers participated in a program

on gender equality. 1,500 students and 104 educators participated

in a program on trafficking, which also involved activities



TEL AVIV 00000466 032 OF 036





involving parents in the issue. The Authority for the Advancement

of the Status of Women funded approximately 200 lectures that were

given in schools throughout the country on the prevention of

violence towards women and on the prevention of prostitution and

trafficking in women. On the International Day commemorating the

abolition of slavery (December 2, 2008),the Ministry of Education

circulated a lesson plan focused on the possibility that a girl

engaging in prostitution might be a girl from the class or from the

neighborhood.



The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) addressed the issue of

trafficking in women via topics such as the State Department's TIP

Report, activities of the Knesset Trafficking in Women Subcommittee,

the extent of trafficking in women for prostitution in Israel, and

investigative reports on pandering practices. IBA also addressed

labor trafficking in a similar manner. The issue was also debated

in the IBA's radio channels, including ongoing reports on Police

raids on brothels and the Police treatment of the women.



A special workers' rights brochure ("Zchuton") on the rights of

foreign workers in the construction field is routinely updated by

MITL in English, Russian, Romanian, Turkish, Thai and Chinese.

Licensed manpower companies are required to distribute "Zchuton" to

each foreign construction worker on a yearly basis and on renewal

of the worker's employment contract. The GOI reported that a

brochure describing all the general labor rights of foreign workers

in Israel is distributed to each foreign worker who arrives at Ben

Gurion airport, and said the brochure is routinely updated and

posted on the MITL website in English, Hebrew, Chinese, Thai,

Russian, Romanian and Turkish.



The Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women conducted a

survey designed to examine public attitudes regarding trafficking in

women and prostitution.



The Government approved an annual National Award (the first will be

awarded in March 2009) for individuals and bodies who have made

outstanding contributions to the battle against trafficking in

persons.



Isha L'Isha agreed that the government established a program this

year to prevent women from being trafficked, gave various lectures

on the issue, and invited the NGO to share its knowledge by

lecturing to more than 1,300 professionals and various audiences.

Isha L'Isha also noted that the Office for the Advancement of Women

established campaigns and seminars in the issue of trafficking, and

the Ministry of Education's brochure. Isha L'Isha praised the

efforts, but still called the actions inadequate "because there is

no in-depth work with professionals in regard to the problematic

institutions, like the Ministry of Interior." Isha L'Isha

complained that the Ministry of Interior decided on a seminar

without the participation of NGO representatives.



A2. Please provide the number of people reached by such awareness

efforts, if available.



No overall figures were available. Numbers for some specific

programs are indicated in the program descriptions that begin on

page 138 of the GOI response.



A3. Do these campaigns target potential trafficking victims and/or

the demand for trafficking (e.g. "clients" of prostitutes or

beneficiaries of forced labor)? (Note: This can be an especially

noteworthy effort where prostitution is legal. End Note.)



The GOI reported that, along with promoting general awareness of the

problem, the Ministry of Education, Kibbutzim, Israel Broadcasting

Authority, and IDF campaigns targeted potential clients of

prostitution/trafficking victims. In addition, according to the

GOI, most of the programs promoted sensitivity to the humanity and

dignity of prostitution/trafficking victims, and such awareness

helps reduce demand.



B1. Does the government monitor immigration and emigration patterns

for evidence of trafficking?



Due to security concerns, Israel guards its borders very carefully,

although stretches of the Egyptian border have can be difficult to

control. Due to attempts of foreign nationals to enter Israel

without proper visas through Ben Gurion airport in recent years,

supervision at the airport was also tightened, according to the GOI.



TEL AVIV 00000466 033 OF 036





Border control is conducted by special units of the Israel Police

acting under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior. The GOI

reported that during 2008, the Ministry of the Interior "continued

its heightened awareness" and monitored new patterns of trafficking

using forged documents and fictitious marriages. The GOI reported

that the change in sex trafficking patterns noted in paragraph 2

section B7 prompted the Committee of Directors General dealing with

TIP to appoint a subcommittee headed by the Deputy Director General

of the Ministry of Public Security to examine changing patterns of

prostitution and trafficking for prostitution. At the time of this

report, the committee had heard from NGOs on various issues

(including trafficking of Israeli women abroad, using drugs to

control women, prostitution of Philippine and Chinese women, and

entry via forged passports rather than via the Egyptian border) but

had not yet arrived at conclusions and recommendations. A recent

case example was cited on page 32 of the GOI response.



B2. Do law enforcement agencies screen for potential trafficking

victims along borders?



The GOI reported that traffickers are detained upon entry into or

exit from Israel "in cases where intelligence information exists"

and said that every trafficking suspect is referred to the police

unit stationed in Ben Gurion Airport.



Kav LaOved noted that border patrols are primarily for the purpose

of preventing people from illegally crossing the borders rather than

for the purpose of screening for potential trafficking victims.



C. 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?



The National Coordinator, who works out of the Ministry of Justice,

has the lead for international and inter-governmental communication

and coordination. Other important mechanisms are the Knesset

Subcommittee on Trafficking in Women and the Knesset Special

Committee on Foreign workers, and the Permanent Round Table. The

Knesset subcommittees provide forums for discussion of trafficking

issues, monitors measures to address trafficking, and members are

often the source of legislative initiatives to combat trafficking.

The Permanent Round Table is a subcommittee that was established to

recommend a National Plan to combat slavery and trafficking for

slavery and forced labor and serve as a permanent round table to

meet periodically in order to study problems and map out strategies.

The entire round table was not convened in 2008, although various

representatives met at different times to deal with specific

problems.



In June 2008, a 13-member delegation visited Moldova, one of the

main source countries for trafficking in persons for prostitution in

Israel. Israeli participants included representatives of the

Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social

Services, the State and District Attorney's Office, the Police, the

National Coordinator, Hotline, and Isha L'Isha. The visit was

sponsored by the European TAIEX project, and included a seminar and

meetings with representatives from Moldovan and the Ukrainian

government agencies and NGOs, as well as on-site visits in rural

Moldova.



Staff members from the Maagan Shelter, a representative from the

Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, and representatives

from Isha L'Isha and Machon Todaa visited in April and May 2008 and

met with representatives of the Italian Government and Italian NGOs,

and toured a street prostitution area. This trip was also sponsored

by TAIEX.



The Police also attended various international seminars and

conferences on trafficking to improve international and regional

cooperation to combat TIP and to establish and strengthen

relationships with counterparts in other national police agencies

and in Interpol.



There is strong cooperation between most government agencies and

NGOs. The GOI highlighted cooperation between NGOs and MITL, the

Immigration Administration, the Police, and the National

Coordinator. The Ministry of the Interior again received the lowest

marks from NGOs, who generally found it the least cooperative branch

of the Government.





TEL AVIV 00000466 034 OF 036





According to Isha L'Isha, every relevant government office has a

representative familiar in depth with the subject that they could

approach when needed.



Further details of cooperation between specific GOI and NGO entities

can be found beginning on page 146 of the GOI response.



D1. Does the government have a national plan of action to address

trafficking in persons?



Yes. A National Plan was adopted by the Government on December 2,

2007, according to Government Resolution number 2670. The Committee

of Directors General decided to promote five goals as the highest

priorities in combating trafficking for the purpose of prostitution:

in the realm of prevention, to strengthen supervision of the

Egyptian border; in the realm of prosecution, to encourage awareness

of possible changes in patterns of criminal activity and act

accordingly; in the realm of protection, to fashion a tool kit to

facilitate the identification of victims of trafficking; in the

realm of protection, to promote the safe return of victims of

trafficking to their countries of origin; and in the realm of

protection, to make efforts to ensure medical treatment to all

victims of trafficking who have legal status in Israel.



The Committee of Directors General decided to promote six goals as

the highest priorities in combating trafficking for the purpose of

labor: in the realm of prevention, to undertake information

campaigns in the countries of origin of foreign workers in order to

equip them with basic information about their conditions of

employment and rights; in the realm of prosecution, to coordinate a

clear division of labor among the law enforcement agencies in regard

to investigation and prosecution of regulatory offenses versus Penal

Law offenses like trafficking and slavery; in the realm of

prosecution, to design a guide by which to identify victims of

trafficking and slavery (otherwise known as a national referral

mechanism) to be used at relevant crossroads; in the realm of

prosecution, to build a comprehensive network of translators to be

utilized at all relevant junctions where foreign workers come into

contact with government representatives; in the realm of protection,

to establish supportive frameworks and an array of services for

victims of trafficking and slavery, including residence solutions,

if necessary, and medical insurance; and in the realm of protection,

to design a visa procedure for victims of slavery and trafficking

for slavery and forced labor.



Further details of the plan, for both sex and labor trafficking, can

be found beginning on page 158 of the GOI response. An analysis of

the progress of the different teams working on various aspects of

the plan can be found beginning on page 44 of Hotline's response.



D2. If the plan was developed during the reporting period, which

agencies were involved in developing it?



The National Coordinator served as chairman for development of the

National Plan to Combat Trafficking for Prostitution.

Representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social

Affairs, the Ministry of Social Services, the Ministry of the

Interior, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Police, the Immigration

Administration, and the director of the Maagan Shelter all

participated in the process.



The National Coordinator also served as chairman for development of

the National Plan to Combat Trafficking for Labor. Representatives

of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the

Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Public Security, the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MITL, the Ministry of Health, the

Police, and the Immigration Administration all participated in the

process.



D3. Were NGOs consulted in the process?



Yes, representatives from Hotline, Isha L'Isha, Machon Todaa, the

Women's Court, Anachnu Shavot, and Atzum participated in the

development of the National Plan to Combat Trafficking for

Prostitution.



Representatives of Hotline, Kav LaOved, Amnesty International

Israel, Physicians for Human Rights Israel participated in the

development of the National Plan to Combat Trafficking for Labor.





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Isha L'Isha described the National Plan as a plan that was built in

cooperation with the NGOs, and said that "all the representatives of

all the authorities were involved in this plan." In the words of

Isha L'Isha, "there have been many dilemmas, but we have overcome

most of them, and in some we had to compromise."



D4. What steps has the government taken to implement the action

plan?



The GOI reported that the following steps have been taken.



MITL formulated procedures for new employment methods in the nursing

care and agriculture fields. In nursing care, the procedure

regarding private bureaus geared towards bringing, mediating and

caring for foreign workers came into force in September 2008, and

the GOI reported that implementation had already began. Licenses

and permits for private bureaus were granted solely to corporations

that adhered to all the special provisions set for a license and a

permit according to the Employment Service Law. The details of the

140 licensed bureaus were published in the MITL website in Hebrew

and English.



In agriculture, a draft procedure was completed at the beginning of

March 2008 and published on the website of the Foreign Workers

Department. The GOI reported that the general public was invited to

address the draft and several responses were submitted. Following

these responses, a conference was held in May 2008. The GOI

reported that this new method is to be implemented in the upcoming

months.



In the area of international cooperation, relevant ministries met

throughout 2008 with members of the origin countries that send

foreign workers to Israel in order to improve coordination on these

issues. Members of MITL met with representatives from the

Governments of Nepal, the Philippines, China, Turkey, and other

countries.



In one notable case in 2008, the Labor Court acknowledged the status

of a trafficking victim for prostitution as an "employee" and

granted her minimum wages. In the appeal process, the Attorney

General was asked to provide an opinion regarding the existence of

employer-employee relations between a person engaging in trafficking

and her employer, whether a trafficking victim or not. The case has

stirred debate among trafficking opponents who have differing views

on whether establishing an employer/employee relationship helps or

hurt, whether the Labor Court is the proper venue for this decision,

how this affects questions of compensation, whether this decision

agrees with international standards, and other issues. A full

explanation of the case can be found beginning on page 170 of the

GOI response.



Further details on implementation can be found beginning on page 169

of the GOI response.



Kav LaOved emphasized that the objectives have not been implemented,

but rather that work plans to achieve these objectives were drafted.

Kav LaOved said that they were not aware of an increase in the

number of lawsuits against employers, information campaigns for

workers, or assistance to victims wishing to return to their

counties.



E: What measures has the government taken during the reporting

period to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts?



According to the National Plan to Combat Trafficking for

Prostitution, comparative research was undertaken to consider

legislation to criminalize purchasing prostitution services. The

GOI reported that the research was completed in early 2009 by the

Office of the National Coordinator and is to be edited and submitted

to the Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Matters for

deliberation.



A private bill "The Prohibition of the Use of Paid Sexual Services

Law, calling for criminalization of all clients of the sex industry"

was drafted in the Knesset. According to the bill, a client would

be liable for six months imprisonment or an educational program upon

his first arrest for this offense. Aggravating circumstances (such

as receiving prostitution services from a minor, a victim of

trafficking, or an addict, or if the client is a public official)

could raise the penalty to five years imprisonment. The National

Coordinator convened a series of meetings to examine the bill. The



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inter-ministerial committee (which also included NGOs and academics

for most of its meetings) decided to delay a final decision for a

year to allow for further study.



F. Required of all Posts: What measures has the government taken

during the reporting period to reduce the participation in

international child sex tourism by nationals of the country?



Child sex tourism does not constitute a significant problem in

Israel, according to both the GOI and NGOs. Sections 203C of the

Penal Law criminalizes purchase of prostitution services of a minor,

and Section 15(b) of the Penal Law allows for extraterritorial

coverage of offenses of prostitution and obscenity performed against

a minor or in relation to a minor regardless of the place of the

commission of the offense, provided it was performed by an Israeli

citizen.



According to the Police, in 2008, there were no cases according to

Section 203C of the Penal Law. The Police also reported that they

did not receive any requests in 2008 to investigate cases regarding

sex tourism of Israelis abroad. The National Coordinator discussed

this question with the Lahav Unit of the Police, which is

responsible for investigating international crime, and reported that

she was told they would be willing to consider undertaking these

kinds of investigations, but that they would require the cooperation

of police in the countries of origin. In order to forward this

initiative, the National Coordinator approached the U.S. Embassy

with a request to hold a video conference between the Lahav Unit and

relevant U.S. law enforcement agencies in order to learn from the

U.S. experience. The National Coordinator also approached the U.S.

Embassy asking for police contacts in relevant countries of origin

such as India and Thailand. Those initiatives were in process at

the time of this report.



G. Required of posts in countries that have contributed over 100

troops to international peacekeeping efforts: What measures has the

government adopted to ensure that its nationals who are deployed

abroad as part of a peacekeeping or other similar mission do not

engage in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking or exploit

victims of such trafficking? If posts do not provide an answer to

this question, the Department may consider including a statement in

the country assessment to the effect that "An assessment regarding

Country X's efforts to ensure that its troops deployed abroad for

international peacekeeping missions do not engage in or facilitate

trafficking or exploit trafficking victims was unavailable for this

reporting period."



N/A



--------------

NOMINATION OF HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES

--------------



7. (U) HEROES: The introduction to the past four TIP Reports has

included a section honoring Anti-Trafficking "Heroes" These

individuals or representatives of organizations demonstrate an

exceptional commitment to fighting TIP above and beyond the scope of

their assigned work. The Department encourages post to nominate one

or more such individuals for inclusion in a similar section of the

2009 Report. Please submit, under a subheading of "TIP Hero(es)," a

brief description of the individual or organization's work, and note

that the appropriate individual(s) has been vetted through databases

available to post (e.g. CLASS and any law enforcement systems) to

ensure they have no visa ineligibilities or other derogatory

information.



Post nomination(s) of Anti-Trafficking Hero(es) will follow

separately.



8. (U) BEST PRACTICES. For the past five years the Report has

carried a section on "Best Practices" in addressing TIP. This

section highlights particular practices used by governments or NGOs

in addressing the various challenges of TIP and serves as a useful

guide to foreign governments and posts as they design anti-TIP

projects and strategies. The Department encourages post to nominate

"best practices" from their host countries for showcasing in the

2009 Report. Please submit, under a "Best Practice" subheading, a

brief summary of the activity or practice, along with the positive

effect it has had in addressing TIP.



CUNNINGHAM