Dov's Laws and Legislation

Dov's Laws and Legislation

Human and Social Rights

  • Law for Adequate Prison Conditions – Bill to ensure adequate prison conditions that protect the health and dignity of prisoners, including medical treatment, proper care, a bed, mattress and blankets, a cabinet, suitable and healthy food, ventilation and light in the cell and daily walks in the open air. The law applies to all prisoners without distinction, including security prisoners.
  • Transparency of Decisions of the Israel Lands Authority – Requires the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), which controls more than 90% of state-owned lands, to publish all its decisions immediately on the Internet, in order to prevent the possibility of corruption, discrimination, nepotism and the favoring of financial interests. Prior to the enactment of the law, only 51 out of 1800 administrative decisions of the ILA were published.
  • Prohibition of Entrance Fees to Public Parks – An amendment to the Municipalities Ordinance that prohibits local authorities to collect entrance fees to public parks. Together with MK Moshe Gafni and MK David Azoulay.
  • Prohibition of Attachments on Mobility Grants for the Blind – Mobility grants, which enable blind people to pay for assistance for basic mobility needs (e.g. shopping at the supermarket) and to integrate in society, will henceforth be protected from all types of attachments. Since a significant proportion of the blind in Israel live below the poverty line, many suffer from attachments on their accounts due to debts. Together with MK Meir Shetreet.
  • Law for the Rights of Victims of Crime – Grants status to victims of hit-and-run crimes during the process of plea bargaining with the offender. Together with MK Zeev Bielski.
  • Prevention of a Criminal Record for Military Offenses – such as the refusal of an order or absence without leave. In December 2010 this bill passed the preliminary reading together with a similar bill by MK Miri Regev and was sent to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
  • Relaxation of Mandatory Helmet Requirement for Cyclists – This law significantly narrows the law enacted by the 17th Knesset, which made cycling without a helmet a criminal offense. Under the new law, only those engaging in interurban and extreme sports cycling as well as children and juveniles are required to wear helmets. Together with MK Shelly Yachimovich.
  • Law of Entry to Israel (Extension of Work Permit for a Foreign Caregiver) – Enables a foreign caregiver, under certain circumstances, to remain in Israel beyond the expiration date of their work permit. Together with MK David Azoulay.
  • Amendment to the Traffic Ordinance (Duty to Provide Information on the Pledge of a Vehicle) – Provides that when transferring ownership of a vehicle, an automatic check will be made for information regarding the existence of a pledge on the vehicle. Together with MK Gideon Ezra.
  • Municipal Tax Exemption for Institutions for the Rehabilitation, Training, or Employment of Handicapped Persons – Together with the members of the Hadash faction.

Worker's Rights

  • Employees Notification Law – An amendment ensuring that employees of manpower contractors receive information about the terms of the contract under which they are employed. This law is intended to correct a situation where the employee is not informed of the terms that were agreed upon between the contractor and the actual employer, and to ensure that the employee is informed at the start of their employment of the employment terms to which the contractor is obligated towards the actual employer. The law requires that the employee be provided with the information needed to realize the rights. Together with MK Haim Oron.
  • Law for Amendment of the Mandatory Tenders Law (Prohibition of Discrimination Due to Age) – The law is intended to prevent discrimination against a person in a tender process due to their age. This generally refers to discrimination against the older population segment, which due to its relatively advanced age is at risk of prejudiced and discriminatory treatment compared to younger contenders for the tender. Together with MK Zeev Bielski.
  • Prevention of Cyclic Dismissals – Prevents the engagement of employees under a contract for a fixed period, at the end of which they are dismissed and then rehired, in a cyclic manner, enabling employers to avoid their obligation to secure the social benefits of their employees, including severance pay. Together with MK Shlomo Molla and MK Shelly Yachimovich.
  • Prohibition on Taking Securities from Employees – Under the law, employers who take securities – checks, notes or deposits from their employees are liable to be punished with imprisonment or a fine. The law also applies to employees of contractors. Together with MK Shelly Yachimovich.
  • Inclusion of Prohibition on Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Parenthood or Pregnancy by the Employment Service – The law expands the scope of the prohibitions on discrimination by the Employment Service. Together with the Women's Lobby, MK Nachman Shai and MK Afou Agbaria.
  • Grant of Authority to the Labor Court to Extend Filing Deadlines – The purpose of the law is to allow the Labor Court to extend the deadlines for submitting to the court claims against the National Insurance Institute and appeals against its decisions. Until now, the law did not allow the court the possibility to extend these deadlines, even on justified grounds.
  • Labor Laws Enforcement Law – A private member's bill adopted by the government and passed as a government bill. The law contains effective protection mechanisms for employees of contractors, albeit thus far only in the cleaning, guarding and catering sectors. This is a further development of the Responsibility of a Purchaser of Services for the Rights of the Service Contractor's Employees, which imposes responsibility for protecting the rights of a contractor's employees not only on the contractor who is their employer but also on the institution that purchased the services. The law was prepared for the second and third reading towards the end of the term of the 17th Knesset and gave birth to the government bill.

Women's Rights

  • Extension of Maternity Leave to 14 Weeks – MK Khenin was the first to initiate the law, which extended maternity leave to 14 weeks.
  • Income Support Benefits for Battered Women in Shelters" – Battered women's shelters cannot serve the State as an alibi for divesting itself of responsibility. Women in these shelters need income support more than anyone, as they have no other source of income and arrive at the shelter penniless. Together with MK Zehava Galon.
  • Prohibition on Advertising Prostitution Services – The law takes aim at the economic foundations of the prostitution industry. Together with MK Orit Zuaretz.
  • Guarantee of Alimony Payments to Women Traveling Abroad – The new law forbids withholding alimony payments from the National Insurance Institute to a woman who travels abroad. Together with MK Faina Kirshenbaum.

Children's Protection

  • Amendment to the Juvenile Law (Trial, Punishment and Treatment) (Alternative Processes) – Instead of sending juvenile delinquents to jail, where they will receive training as future criminals, the law provides for alternative processes in which the youth assume responsibility for their actions and engage in remedial activity within various frameworks. Experience around the world shows that this approach is more just and also more effective. Together with MK Zevulun Orlev.
  • Law for the Provision of Information to Parents – Establishes the right of both separated parents of a child to receive information about the child. Together with MKYariv Levin.
  • Law to Extend the Activity of the Fund for At-Risk Children and Youth – The Fund for At-Risk Children and Youth was originally established as a means of dealing with the spread of poverty, economic hardship and social problems among children and youth following the slashing of child allowances. Over the years, the fund has developed a range of activities for aiding children and youth at risk, and its activity has garnered widespread praise. The fund was initially established under a temporary order that was due to expire at the end of 2007. The law extended the fund's activity for an additional year.
  • Law to Prohibit the Sale of Lottery Tickets to Minors – The law prohibits the sale of lottery tickets to anyone under the age of 18, in order to protect minors from developing a gambling addiction and wasting large sums of money. Together with MK Ahmed Tibi.
  • Prohibition on Cigarette Vending Machines – The law is intended to reduce the accessibility to youth of cigarettes and smoking products. Together with MK Uri Ariel.

Environmental Protection and Health

  • The Polluter Pays Law – A general law that updates and amends all the environmental laws in Israel. The law contains advanced mechanisms for the economic punishment of polluters, including both administrative and criminal penalties. It increases the punishment meted out to bodies that pollute without a pollution permit and also establishes a collection mechanism for bodies that pollute within the framework of the law. This mechanism is intended to encourage factories to switch to cleaner technologies.
  • Clean Air Law – The law was approved in the first reading by the 16th Knesset, and was reformulated in the 17th Knesset with MK Khenin's active involvement. This is a comprehensive law that fully regulates, for the first time in Israel, the issue of the discharge of pollutants into the air, tightening the ring around polluting industries.
  • Environmental Enforcement Law – Confers broad search and investigation powers on inspectors of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and for the first time subjects the different security bodies to civil enforcement.
  • Environmental Enforcement Law – Powers of Local Authority Inspectors – Empowers local authorities to enforce environmental laws, thereby simultaneously achieving two important goals – the one, environmental (increasing enforcement of environmental laws), and the other, social (injecting fine moneys collected from environmental polluters directly into the coffers of the local authorities whose residents are the main victims of pollution).
  • Law to Reduce Air Pollution from Transportation (Amendment 84 to the Traffic Ordinance) – The law creates a clear division of power between the government and the local authorities, putting an end to an impossible situation in which either side could paralyze initiatives of the other. The amendment obligates local authorities to act to reduce air pollution caused by transportation in every case where there is a high level of air pollution.
  • Environmental Transparency Law – Duty to Report the Discharge of Pollutants – The law establishes a requirement of transparency over the discharge of pollutants into the environment, imposes on factories detailed reporting duties, sets up a register of discharged pollutants and mandates the publication of the data to the public. Experience has shown that environmental reporting duties change the behavior of polluting factories and that environmental transparency is a major democratic tool for mobilizing the public to act against pollution and pollutants. Evasion of reporting will be a criminal offense and will also result in significant administrative-financial penalties.
  • Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings – Establishes a comprehensive mechanism for reducing energy use in the public sector. Among other measures, every public institution must follow a defined plan for the reduction of energy consumption. The law also lists a series of energy-saving measures, including the installation of energy-efficient light bulbs, replacement of electricity-guzzling equipment and implementation of a procedure for the economic use of electric equipment. Together with MK Nitzan Horowitz and MK Orit Zuaretz.
  • Duty to Install Water-Saving Devices in Public Buildings – Mandates the installation of water-saving devices, including flow regulators ("chaschamim"), in all public buildings. Together with MK Ophir Akunis.
  • Law for the Protection of the Gulf of Eilat Coastal Environment – The law for the first time extends the scope of the Coastal Environment Protection Law, which applies to the Mediterranean coast, to include the coast of the Gulf of Eilat.
  • Kinneret Protection Law – The law extends the scope of the Coastal Environment Protection Law to include the shores of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), and establishes an authority (the Kinneret Conurbation) that is responsible for protecting the Kinneret and its shores.
  • National Mine Action Authority Law – Establishes an authority with responsibility for clearing hundreds of minefields that are scattered throughout Israel. Together with MK Tzahi Hanegbi, MK Roni Baron and a group of MKs.
  • Prohibition of Driving on Beaches – Establishes clear prohibitions and definitions with respect to driving on beaches, clarifies the penalties for violations of the law, and creates effective and modern enforcement mechanisms to deal with this phenomenon.
  • New Deposit Law – Assigns direct responsibility to manufacturers, based on the principle of "the polluter pays".
  • Municipal Tax Exemption for Field Schools Law – Serves as a means for aiding environmental education institutions. Together with MK Zevulun Orlev.
  • Electronic Waste Recycling – A law that originated in two similar private members' bills submitted by MK Khenin and MK Nitzan Horowitz. Subsequently, a government bill was submitted that adopted the main points of these bills. The law, which is predicated on the principle of "the polluter pays," provides for extended producer responsibility for the treatment and reduction of electronic waste that can cause soil and groundwater contamination, and makes arrangements for the collection and recycling of purchased appliances.

Animal Protection

  • Prohibition on Import of Animal-Tested Cosmetics and Detergents – The law prohibits importing into Israel cosmetic/cleaning products, not for health purposes, and detergents that were tested on animals during their production. Together with MK Eitan Cabel and MK Nitzan Horowitz.
  • Prohibition on Declawing Cats Other than for Medical Reasons – The declawing prohibited by the law is generally performed by cat owners who want to protect their home furniture. This is an irreversible surgical procedure that causes the animal great pain. Together with MK Eitan Cabel.
  • Law for Neutering and Spaying Dogs – The purpose of the law is to deal in the most humane way with the phenomenon of the thousands of stray dogs abandoned every year to suffer from abuse or die a painful death, by encouraging dog owners to neuter or spay their pet in order to prevent unwanted births. Under the law, whoever neuters or spays their dog will recover the cost within two years by means of a discount on the dog license fee. Together with MK Eitan Cabel.