Supreme Court orders AG to Explain Egg Subsidy Exclusion
Close to seven billion eggs are produced in Israel each year. Egg production is a primary source of income for about 3,000 families living in the north of Israel, yet there are no Arab farmers or Arab villages which are eligible for state quotas and subsidies to produce and market eggs.
The Knesset's Economics Committee approved an additional NIS 8 million in subsidies for producing and marketing eggs in 2007. The poultry sector is one of the most important agricultural sectors in Israel as it yields high economic returns.
In the past two years four Jewish towns were added to the list of communities eligible for egg subsidies, while not one Arab town was added.
The exclusion of an Arab village from the list of eligible communities constitutes discrimination against Arab citizens of the state as Aramshe is located in the same geographical area in which the rest of the communities that received quotas and subsidies for eggs are situated.
(Haifa, Israel) On 14 July 2010, the Supreme Court of Israel held a hearing on a petition filed by Adalah in April 2008 demanding that clear and equal criteria be set for determining the list of towns eligible for state quotas and subsidies for producing and marketing eggs. To date, only Jewish farmers and Jewish towns in Israel receive such lucrative benefits. At the hearing, the court issued an order nisi (an order to show cause) instructing the state to explain why the Arab village of Aramshe, located near the northern border of Israel, cannot be included in the list of eligible communities for these benefits. The court further requested clarifications from the state as to the reason why there are no clear and equal standards for egg production benefits.
In its response to the petition from October 2008, the state agreed that it would increase the number of quotas awarded for producing and marketing eggs by 5% in 2009, and that the authorities would work on criteria for allocating these quotas to new producers. The state added that the issue of allocating quotas to members of minority groups would be looked at specifically. However to date no criteria were set to allocate these quotas.. In addition, as Adalah argued during the Supreme Court hearing in July 2010, in the past two years, four Jewish towns were added to the list of communities eligible for egg subsidies, while not one Arab town was added.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher submitted the petition to the court on behalf of residents of Aramshe, whose numerous applications for egg quotas and subsidies were rejected, and the Center for Public Development in Haifa. The respondents are the Ministers of Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Labor, and Finance and the Poultry Council.
Background
The Poultry Council Law – 1963 establishes an individual's right to produce and market eggs in Israel. However, according to the law, a person may not produce or market eggs unless he or she has received a personal quota under the terms defined in the law. A subsequently enacted law, The Galilee Law – 1988, stipulates that preference will be given in allocating egg quotas to farmers who live in the Galilee on a permanent basis. Under the Galilee Law, those who receive quotas are eligible to receive a subsidy for producing eggs at certain percentages of the calculated cost of production. The stated purpose of granting preference in allocating quotas and subsidies to Galilee communities is to develop the Galilee in all fields: communities, education, health, tourism, industry, transportation, and aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel).
Farming is a main source of income for Arab citizens of Israel. In a report published in 2000, the Minister of Agriculture stressed the absence egg production in Arab villages, as a result of the lack of funds available to Arab egg farmers. Despite the continued increase in the demand for eggs, Aramshe has yet to be added to the list of communities eligible to produce and market eggs and for subsidies and quotas.
Egg production is a primary source of income for about 3,000 families living in the north of Israel. Thus, there is a need to provide allotments for farmers in the village of Aramshe, who are in economic need. The changes needed would require an equal and appropriate division of state-owned economic resources. Adalah stressed that although Aramshe has a low socio-economic status it is continuously excluded from this economically viable industry.
Attorney Zaher argued in the petition filed to the Supreme Court in April 2008 that the Galilee Law and the Agriculture Ministry's decision violates the constitutional rights to equality, freedom of occupation and property of Arab farmers living in Aramshe. “Therefore, these directives were not designed for a worthy purpose and are not proportionate, and should thus be canceled,” the petition states. Adalah demanded the expansion of the scope of the law and of the respondents' decisions, and at a minimum to include the village of Aramshe in the list of communities eligible to receive quotas and subsidies, given that the poultry sector is one of the most important agricultural sectors, which yield high economic returns.
Case citation: HCJ 3815/08, Eyad el-Mugheys, et al. v. The Minister of Agriculture
