According to estimates, hundreds of driver’s licenses are frozen each year by the Bailiff’s Office. For many Israelis, this immediately results in their inability to earn money and pay off the debt they owe.
In a story published in Haaretz on this issue, journalist Lee Yaron interviewed Rabbis for Human Rights’ staff Rabbi Idit Lev and Rabbi Sigal Asher in response to information we acquired at our Rights Center in Hadera, where we provide assistance to economically vulnerable Israelis.
Egged bus by Flickr user david55king
“My financial situation has become a lot more difficult, my children have been forced to help me instead of me helping themselves, ” said Abu Rami, featured in the article below. “How does the Bailiff’s Office expect me to pay back the money if they take away my means of earning a living?”
“I have not yet seen a person in debt who hasn’t had their driver’s license suspended. I think there are at least hundreds of such cases,” says Rabbi Idit Lev, head of social justice at the NGO Rabbis for Human Rights. Rabbis for Human Rights works to address this problem for many who are trapped in the situation; according to Lev’s estimation, there are at least hundreds.
As a rule, the Bailiff’s Office ensures a process to those who make a living through driving wherein they can declare such and therefore cancel the freezing of the license. They also emphasize that driver’s licenses will not be taken from those who come to the offices and formalize their standing.
There will be those who ask, how is it possible that three years passed from the date the license was frozen until the attempt to renew it? Here is part of the problem: It is not rare for individuals to not know their driver’s licenses have been frozen or “blocked.” They will only discover this during a routine license check or when they come to renew their licenses. “Many don’t know it, ” says Rabbi Sigal Asher from RHR.
“Their livelihood is harmed, their debt rises, and the damage to all sides increases.” According to Asher, the director of the organization’s rights center in Hadera, “Failures in exercising rights and making information accessible – in particular to those living in poverty who have difficulty acquiring a lawyer or alternative assistance – consitutes severe harm on vulnerable communities but also harm all of society. It is not by chance that in the Jewish tradition, the Chazal limited collections so that the debtor must always still have necessary assets to sustain and provide for themselves.
The post Unbelievable! Driver’s Licenses of those who drive for a living revoked due to debts appeared first on Rabbis for Human Rights.