Israeli Shortcut’s Advocacy Ends Bureaucratic Quagmire for Foreign Driver’s License Holders

 

Due to the advocacy of Israeli Shortcut’s legal department with Israel’s Transportation Ministry, problematic bureaucratic regulations which caused considerable monetary damage and misery to tourists of foreign citizenship, returning Israeli residents and immigrants will soon be amended.

 

Israeli Shortcut had alerted the Transportation Ministry to the fact that Amendments 567 and 567a of the Transportation Law contains a number of legal lacunae that cause foreign driver’s license holders to suffer large financial outlays and misery. For instance, due to the unclear government rules, insurance companies interpreted the law in a way that enabled them to refuse to pay claims to some foreign driver’s license holders. Understandably, this had a dampening effect on these foreign residents’ desire to remain in Israel or make aliya.

 

After numerous cases had stacked up in Israeli Shortcut’s files and many individuals reported that they had petitioned the ministry several times without success, the organization directed its legal department to begin lobbying for the above laws’ amendment. Fourteen ways in which the law discriminates against foreign drivers’ license holders in contrast to regular Israelis were specified to the Ministry.

 

A response by the Transportation Ministry spurred a lengthy letter by Israeli Shortcut explaining what the ministry should do to correct the problems. Atty. Chava Reuveni of the Transportation Ministry General Attorney’s office thanked Israeli Shortcut for bringing the problems to their attention. She informed them that the ministry would be doing an overhaul of the problematic regulations and will amend and clarify the ambiguous rules so they no longer undermine the rights of the foreign population driving in Israel. Atty. Reuveni mentioned that the legal overhaul would take time and asked Israeli Shortcut to be in touch within two months. (See attached letter.)

 

Israeli Shortcut, who works non-stop on behalf of the foreign population living in Israel, is proud to report this achievement. We thank the Transportation Ministry’s General Attorney for hearing the problem and understanding its negative implications, and showing willingness to expedite the necessary changes.

 

Israeli Shortcut chairman Zev Zer expressed his satisfaction that months of his organization’s advocacy led to a solution for foreign residents in Israel. He says that nothing would contribute more to aliya and remaining in Israel than relieving foreign residents of the country’s onerous and discriminatory bureaucratic regulations. He hopes that other government offices will learn from the Transportation Ministry’s example to correct the inequalities from which foreign residents living in Israel suffer from and give them the recognition they deserve.