The Jerusalem District Court is weighing its ruling on a
petition filed by Betzedek to obtain the names of businesses
that have received permits to work on Shabbos. During the
course of the proceedings the State had to retract its
opposition in principle to publicizing the information, which
could help promote the battle against the growing incidence
of State-sanctioned chilul Shabbos by making known
which businesses hold permits to operate on Shabbos and the
operative factors in the respective decisions to grant each
permit.
Attorney Rabbi Mordechai Green, director of Betzedek,
recently received complaints that the Ministry of Commerce
and Industry, headed by Ehud Olmert, has been violating the
Work and Rest Hours Law by freely handing out permits to
businesses to employ Jews on Shabbos.
In order to clarify the matter, Betzedek asked the Commerce
Ministry to provide a detailed, up-to-date list of all of the
businesses and organizations that hold permits, and the
reasons cited in each case. The request was submitted under
the Freedom of Information Law, which requires government
institutions to provide every citizen, upon request, with
information related to State activity.
At first the Ministry adamantly refused to provide the
requested information. In response to Betzedek's request, the
ministry official in charge of freedom of information said
that information regarding the permits is a "professional or
commercial secret" liable to harm the businesses if divulged,
since certain segments of the population might boycott
them.
But after Betzedek stated its case in court, the Ministry
announced that it accepted the petitioner's stance in
principle, but sought to apply a clause in the Freedom of
Information Law that would allow it to withhold the
information for an extended period. According to this clause,
the State's counsel argued, the Ministry must send written
notices to all businesses liable to suffer harm from the
release of the information, wait for a set period for
objections by the businesses in question, consider the
reasons given and then decide whether to disclose the
information or not.
During the court proceedings, Attorney Green dismissed the
Ministry's new contention outright, saying the State was
making irregular use of the clause. Noting that the Work and
Rest Hours Law is intended to defend workers, Green argued
that the employers were not the ones who stand to be harmed
by disclosure of the information.
Green also claimed that information on permits to work on
Shabbos cannot be referred to as a "professional secret" and
that the State simply appears to be concealing potentially
embarrassing information from the public.
Following these claims, the court asked the defense to
provide concrete examples of the type of damage the
disclosure of the information could cause, but when the
State's counsel failed to do so at an early stage in the
proceedings, the judge dismissed the relevance of this
argument.
In his conclusions, Green noted that the right to receive the
information is a fundamental right that allows critique of
government activities and decision-making, calling this an
essential condition for the operation of a democratic state.
Denying the citizen access to information misleads potential
consumers and represents a violation of the citizen's freedom
of religion and the right to live in accordance with his
worldview, in addition to other fundamental rights such as
the right to spend his own money freely, the right of
autonomous will and the right to equality.
At the end of the proceedings, the court suggested that the
State pass on the names of the businesses to Betzedek
immediately, while withholding the explanations for the
permits until receiving written consent or detailed
objections from the respective businesses. The counsel for
the defense rejected this arrangement. Therefore, a formal
ruling is now being prepared.
Jurists speculate that the State's resistance indicates that
disclosing information would reveal departures from legal
requirements. This obstinacy reinforces the need to disclose
the information, they say.
This court victory promises to pave the way for the campaign
to prevent major breeches in the walls of Shabbos, further
violations in the status quo on religion and more stringent
adherence to relevant laws.
