Since 1951 the Labor Minister has issued permits for
factories asking to employ workers on Shabbos, the official
weekly day of rest. The law contains stringent criteria for
granting these permits, which are only available if the
factory is considered vital to public security or the
national economy. To emphasize the importance of the law the
Knesset added a directive requiring the Labor Minister to
state in detail in the permit the professions of the
employees allowed to work on Shabbos while other employees
are excluded from the permit.
Recently Betzedek, through the organization's director,
Attorney Rabbi Mordechai Green, contacted the Labor Minister
to request a detailed, up-to-date list of businesses holding
such permits and why each was issued. The request was
submitted based on the Freedom of Information Law, which
requires state institutions and authorities provide citizens
any information regarding state activities upon request.
The Freedom of Information Commissioner notified Betzedek of
the Labor Ministry's refusal to provide the requested
information, saying it would be liable to cause certain
sectors of the population to cease purchasing products and
services from businesses open on Shabbos.
Attorney Green then filed a High Court appeal claiming the
Minister's refusal to provide the information and the
peculiar explanation given do not meet the test of law. The
right to receive information is a fundamental right to allow
critique of the activities of a given entity and its judgment
and constitutes an essential condition for a properly run
democracy, he argues.
He also asserts that denying citizens the information
represents a serious infringement on the right to freedom of
religion and the right of the individual to lead his life
according to his convictions, thereby infringing on other
fundamental rights such as the right to choose how to spend
one's money and the right to personal autonomy. As such it
constitutes a perversion of the course of justice for all
citizens and consumers, says Attorney Green.
The appeal stresses that the State did not contact the permit
recipients themselves to ask whether they object to
publicizing this information, which indicates the State
itself clearly has an interest in not revealing this
information for various reasons.
The appeal has been submitted to the duty judge for review
and the State's rebuttal has not yet been submitted.
