Adalah Petitions Supreme Court Demanding Inclusion of Arab Village on the List of Communities Eligible for Egg Production and Marketing Quotas and Subsidies
In 2006, the national egg production quota in Israel was 671 million eggs; in 2007, that figure rose to 678 million eggs. In 2007, the Knesset's Economics Committee approved an additional NIS 8 million in subsidies for producing and marketing eggs. The egg business is a very profitable industry in Israel.
On 28 April 2008, Adalah petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel demanding the addition of the Arab village of Aramshe in the Upper Galilee to the list of communities eligible for egg production and marketing quotas and subsidies. Adalah also demanded that equal and clear eligibility criteria be formulated for this list.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher submitted the petition on behalf of residents of the village of Aramshe, which is located on the northern border between Israel and Lebanon, and the Center for Community Development in Haifa against the Ministers of Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Labor, and Finance and the Poultry Council.
In 2002, a resident of Aramshe asked to receive quotas and subsidies for the production and marketing of eggs. The request was rejected because his village was not included on the list of communities eligible to receive them. Later, Adalah appealed to the Poultry Council on his behalf, but this second request was also denied because Aramshe was still not included on a revised new list. The Poultry Council explained that the list of ‘border' communities eligible to receive economic assistance from governmental ministries is stipulated in decisions made by the government, while the list of communities eligible for production quotas for eggs is determined by the Minister of Agriculture. The Minister of Agriculture appointed a professional committee to determine the list of eligible communities, which also excluded the village of Aramashe. This list includes 11 communities located near the border between Israel and Lebanon, but does not include Aramshe or any other Arab village.
The Poultry Council Law establishes an individual's right to produce and market eggs. However, under 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 farm owners 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). However, the Galilee Law, also excluded Aramshe. Adalah argued that 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 are situated.
Attorney Zaher argued in the petition 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.
The Ministry of Agriculture emphasized in a report issued in 2000 that the egg industry is under-functioning in Arab villages because of the non-allocation of egg quotas to Arab farmers. In 2007, an additional allocation for subsidies was approved because of the need to enlarge the number of approved quotas to meet the growing demand for eggs. Despite the increase in 2007, the respondents did not deem it necessary to revise the list of communities and Aramshe was again excluded.
The egg industry is the primary source of livelihood for about 3,000 families, two-thirds of whom live in the Galilee. In addition, those who have received a quota are entitled to sell it to another farmer or to bequeath it to family members following their death. The need to allot quotas to farmers in Aramshe not only derives from its discriminatory exclusion but also stems also from economic need, which mandates a fair and equal allocation of the economic resources of the state. The village of Aramshe is ranked in cluster 4 in the socio-economic index of the Central Bureau of Statistics whereas the other communities eligible for quotas and subsidies for egg production and marketing are ranked in higher clusters, indicating a higher socio-economic status. Despite this, Arab farmers in general, and Arab farmers living in the Aramshe village in particular, are excluded from this profitable industry.
