"Military service" requirement to work at airport – even as a baggage handler

Requirement blocks vast majority of Arab Palestinians

The Israel Airport Authority recently published an advertisement announcing vacant job positions for baggage handlers at Ben Gurion Airport. The announcement stated that the job requires military service as one of the primary qualifications, although it consists mainly of moving bags and carts. Adalah wrote to Yaakov Ganout, General Director of the Airport Authority, demanding the cancellation of this requirement as it discriminates against Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel, most of whom do not serve in the military.

Military service requirement attributed to security

In the letter, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher pointed out that the Airport Authority's claim that "every position in the airport is of a security nature" is problematic and will lead to the immediate exclusion of eligible candidates.

She added that Arab Palestinian citizens of the state hold high positions without having served in the military, up to and including that of Supreme Court Justice. These  individuals have access to much more security-sensitive materials than baggage handlers would have in their positions.

Airport refuses to employ Arab Palestinians as a policy

"This issue is especially important in light of the negligible number of Arab citizens employed at the airport," wrote Attorney Zaher. "For example, we recently learned of the policy forbidding Arab taxi drivers from working at the airport, which was only canceled following an intervention by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)... The airport has a policy to employ Arabs as little as possible, on a temporary rather than permanent basis."

Violation of law and constitutional rights

Preventing Arab Palestinians from applying for work at the airport constitutes discrimination on the basis of national belonging, and violates Equal Employment Opportunities Law as well as the Basic Law- Freedom of Occupation. The Basic Law acknowledges the right of all people to work in any occupation, position, or field without restrictions except those which are stipulated in the law.  Therefore, the military service condition for work as a baggage handler is illegal and unconstitutional. 

Photo by Alyssa Bernstein used under a Creative Commons license.