Adalah Petitions Supreme Court: Enormous Financial Support Provided by State to Former Soldiers for Home Mortgages Constitutes Discrimination against Arab Citizens

On 29 December 2005, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel against the Ministry of Construction and Housing. The petition challenges the governmental policy of providing substantial financial support or “extended support” – in the form of low-interest governmental loans – for home mortgages to Israeli citizens who have completed their military or national service. This “extended support” is provided in addition to and supplements generous financial support that is already given to former soldiers for housing as well as other benefits under the Absorption of Former Soldiers Law – 1994.

The petitioners argued that the “extended support” for housing mortgage loans discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are not required and ought not to perform military or national service as a native national minority. Further, the petitioners contended that the purpose of supplemental governmental housing support is to assist the socio-economically disadvantaged to find housing solutions; the performance of military service is irrelevant to this purpose. Thus, the “extended support” assistance, beyond what is already provided by the 1994 law, in fact violates the Ministry's declared purpose. Moreover, by distributing public funds in an unequal and unfair manner, the Ministry of Construction and Housing is violating its duty to all citizens to serve as a trustee for the whole public and not only for one part of it. Adalah Attorney Marwan Dalal filed the petition.

In Israel, home mortgages are comprised of government-financed loans, which carry low interest rates, and bank-financed private loans, which carry a range of higher interest rates. Eligibility for low-rate government-financed loans is calculated based on a points or credits system assigned to various personal factors such as the number of brothers and sisters, the number of children in the household, any health-related disabilities, among other factors. The total number of points determines the amount of funds available to the home purchasers through government-financed loans. Under current governmental policy, one of the main factors, which yield a great number of points or the lack thereof, is whether or not the individual(s) has performed military or national service.

Individuals in the best socio-economic situation (based on personal factors) get the least number of points and additional assistance of NIS 461 per month, while those in the worst situation get the maximum number of points and additional assistance of NIS 2,075 per month. A married couple, each spouse of whom completed full military service (36 months for men and 24 months for women), and who are in a good socio-economic situation, get NIS 27,660 more in total than a married couple in the same socio-economic situation neither of whom served in the military. A married couple in a bad socio-economic situation, each of whom completed full military service, gets NIS 124,500 more than a similarly-situated married couple neither of whom served in the military. Thus, the additional assistance for married couples, each of whom did full military service ranges from NIS 27,660 to NIS 124,500.

The petition includes detailed data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) regarding the socio-economic status of the Arab minority in Israel, which is the lowest in the state as compared with all other parts of the population, except for migrant workers. The CBS sorted all municipalities and local councils in Israel into ten clusters, according to various socio-economic characteristics. Of 74 municipalities included in the first three clusters, which represent the lowest socio-economic levels in the country, 64 (or 86.4%) are Arab councils.

The petition also sets forth detailed poverty data. According to the National Insurance Institute, in 2004, 49.9% of Arab citizens of Israel were classified as poor (under poverty line) as compared with 15.9% of Jewish citizens; 31.3% of the total poor population in Israel were Arab citizens.

Further data provided to the Court details comparative figures of unemployment rates, wage-levels, and housing density. The following table shows housing density in Arab communities as compared to Jewish communities in Israel.

Housing Density – Arabs vs. Jews

The petition also provides comparative regional data. This table below shows Arab and Jewish towns in Israel, by region. In the Jewish towns, residents enjoy “extended support” for housing whereas in the Arab towns, which are socio-economically weaker, the residents do not receive such support:

Realization of Regional Discrimination due to the Ministry of Construction and Housing's Grant of Extended Support for Housing

H.C. 11956/05, Suhad Bishara, et. al. v. The Ministry of Construction and Housing.

 The Petition (H)