Jews get more tax breaks
Photo: Index Open
Supreme Court: Tax breaks favor Jews
Chief Justice at hearing: Recent location-based tax breaks do not apply to any Arab community
Location-based tax breaks discriminate against Israel's Arab citizens, Chief Justice Dorish Beinish said Wednesday during a Supreme Court hearing on the matter.
Beinish and fellow judges on the panel noted that not even one Arab community was included in the recent addition to the list of towns whose residents get tax breaks from the State.
West Bank
Aviad Glickman
Supreme Court president orders state to explain why buildings built on Palestinian land were not razed
The hearing followed petitions submitted to the High Court as early as 2002, in a bid to question the legality of tax breaks granted to Israeli citizens based on their area of residence. The petition argued that Arab and Bedouin communities in Israel's north and south do not enjoy the same benefits as nearby Jewish communities.
In the verdict, Beinish wrote that the information presented to the court clearly shows that legislation on the matter does not meet the test of equality and is not premised on clear criteria.
The chief justice added that given the small gaps between the positions of both sides, judges previously believes that the matter would be resolved without judicial intervention.
"However, the government and Knesset refrained – methodically and over the course of some years – from acting in order to resolve the issue," she wrote.
