Conditioning Child Support Allowances on Vaccinations and Regular School Attendance is Irrational, Illegal and Violates the Rights of Arab Bedouin in the Naqab
On 30 April 2009, Adalah sent a letter to the Israeli Attorney General demanding that directives be issued to the Likud and Shas political parties to cancel a provision of their bilateral coalition agreement that would deprive certain children of support allowances. According to the agreement, children who do not regularly attend school or have not received the vaccinations recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH) would no longer be provided with the financial support. Adalah argued that the provision would mainly affect Arab Bedouin citizens living in the Naqab (Negev), since most of the children who do not attend school on a regular basis and have not received vaccinations come from this group. Therefore, Adalah argued, the provision discriminates against them on the basis of their national belonging.
According to a report issued by the MOH in February 2009, the percentage of Arab Bedouin children who have not received all the recommended vaccinations is extremely high: approximately 90.4% of 0-5 year-old children in the recognized Bedouin villages, and 87% of children of the same age group in the unrecognized villages.
The National Insurance Institute (NII) provides the allowances to the parents of these children in order to ensure that they are adequately supported. In the letter, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher argued that there is no connection between vaccinations or regular school attendance and the stated purpose of children support allowances. To the contrary, there is a greater need to provide these children with financial support, as children who do not attend school on a regular basis and who have not been vaccinated against diseases tend to come from deprived socio-economic backgrounds.
Adalah further argued that imposing conditions on the payment of support allowance to these children constitutes a violation of their rights to social security and dignity.
