[child-rights] CRC 31st Session: Second period report of Israel

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release

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xxxxxxxxxxISRAEL PRESENTS SECOND PERIODIC REPORT TO COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF
CHILD ON ITS COMPLIANCE WITH THE CONVENTIONxxxxxxxxxx

CRC
31st session
2 October 2002

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the second
periodic report of Israel on how that country is implementing the
provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing his country's report, Yaakov Levy, Ambassador and
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at
Geneva, stressed that protecting children and providing them with the
best possible opportunities in life was the guiding objective of
every parent in the country. However, for too many children, the
basic necessities for a happy, safe and healthy childhood, and by
extension a productive, meaningful and healthy life, were simply not
provided, he said. The Government of Israel was committed to those
objectives; and much had been accomplished over the past decade to
achieve them.

Also introducing the report, Saviona Rotlevy, Judge at the Ministry
of Justice of Israel, said that it appeared to her that during the
last few years, a real change in the approach of the Israeli society
towards children's rights could be discerned. Children, as well as
parents, caretakers and the authorities, had begun to realize what
the rights of children were, how those rights should be protected,
and how they affected the daily life of children.

Chairperson and Committee Expert Jacob Egbert Doek, who served as
rapporteur on the report of Israel, said in his preliminary
concluding remarks that the Committee got a lot of clarifications on
the conditions of children and was able to understand the position of
Israel on different issues. A lot of efforts had to be made to
implement the Convention and to make it a reality for the children,
whether they were Jews or not, he said. So far, the Israeli
authorities were on the right track and they should continue with
their efforts. Some of the concern of the Committee would focus on
the conditions of Palestinian children in the occupied territories.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding
observations and recommendations on the report of Israel on Friday, 4
October, the last day of its three-week session.

The Israeli delegation was also made up of Tuvia Israeli, Deputy
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at
Geneva; Alan Baker, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Moaz Oren and
Yochie Gnessin, of the Ministry of Justice; Yona Amitai, of the
Ministry of Health; Udi Sagui, of the Israeli Defence Force; Ilana
Zailer, of the Ministry of Education; and Teizu Guluma, Advisor.

Israel is among the 191 States parties to the Convention and as such
it is required to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it
is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 3 October, it
will discuss in private its conclusions on country reports examined
during this session. The Committee is scheduled to close its
three-week session on Friday, 4 October, after adopting its
concluding observations and its annual report.

Report of Israel

The second periodic report of Israel (document CRC/C/8/Add.44)
enumerates the various aspects affecting the rights of the child in
the country and the efforts made to implement the provisions of the
Convention. Although the Convention, which was ratified in 1991, does
not have the status of law, it is often cited in rulings of both the
supreme and the lower courts as a legal source and a basis of
interpretation. The report notes that at the end of 1998, the
population of Israel numbered 6,041,400 individuals -- 79 per cent
Jews and 21 per cent non-Jews. Approximately 10 per cent of Israel's
population are new immigrants, 2 per cent of whom immigrated from
Ethiopia and 8 per cent from the former Soviet Union.

The report notes that 89 per cent of the children in Israel live in
urban centres. The percentage of children living in rural communities
is higher among the Arab citizens of Israel, reaching 21 per cent.
About 12 per cent of Israel's children -- 9 per cent of the Arabs and
14 per cent of the Jews -- live in mixed communities of Jews and
Arabs.

It further notes that a number of factors have played and continue to
play a decisive role in determining the character of Israeli society.
One is the social and cultural diversity of the Jewish population,
resulting primarily from immigration from a wide range of countries
of origin but also from differences in religious observance. Another
is the nature of relations between the Jewish majority and the
significant Arab minority. To this may be added the Arab-Israeli
conflict and the ongoing peace process.

The report continues to note that poverty is widespread among the
child population in Israel; the poverty rate among children has risen
dramatically since the 1970s; and it hinders educational
achievements, fosters delinquency, and impedes the attainment of
equal opportunity.

Presentation of Report

YAAKOV LEVY, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the
United Nations Office at Geneva, stressed that protecting children
and providing them with the best possible opportunities in life was
the guiding objective of every parent in the country. However, for
too many children, the basic necessities for a happy, safe and
healthy childhood, and by extension a productive, meaningful and
healthy life, were simply not provided. The Government of Israel was
committed to those objectives; and much had been accomplished over
the past decade to achieve them.

Mr. Levy said there had been an increased focus on children's rights
in Israel, and on the need to raise public awareness and involvement
for the enhancement of children's well-being, irrespective of their
ethnic, economic, geographic or religious background. Since becoming
a party to the Convention, Israel had undertaken comprehensive
reforms in the field of children's rights. The last decade had been
marked by the passage of extensive legislation relating to children.
More than 20 comprehensive bills relating to child rights had been
enacted by the Israeli parliament. Every child in Israel was
guaranteed the right to health insurance as well as the right to
education.

One of the most critical and important elements in the long-term
protection of the rights of the child was education for peace and
tolerance, the Ambassador continued to say. Within Israel itself,
this concerned tolerance among the different communities, religious
and secular, veterans and newcomers, Arabs and Jews. It was even more
important in the long-term relations between Israelis, Palestinians
and Arabs, if one was to live in a region which ultimately would
abide by peace treaties reached by the respective governments but
also by the deep undertaking of the need to respect and appreciate
each other.

Mr. Levy said today his country found itself facing a particularly
difficult situation: Palestinian terrorist organizations were making
increasing use of children and minors in acts of violence against
Israelis. Over the past year, a large number of Palestinian children
had been directly involved in the carrying out of such attacks. All
too often they had lost their life or a limb in the process. That
exploitation and manipulation of children, some as young as seven or
eight years old, was a blatant violation of basic norms and
principles of international law, and of children's rights. Children
were still being encouraged to sacrifice themselves in terror
attacks.

The death of any child, Palestinian or Israeli, was a terrible
tragedy, Mr. Levy said. Ninety Israeli children had been killed; many
more had been maimed, wounded or orphaned since the violence began in
September 2000. Those children had been the tragic victims of brutal
terrorist attacks and countless suicide bombings, on their city
streets, and even in their homes. Due to those attacks, Israel had
unfortunately had to develop extensive expertise and mechanisms to
deal with terror trauma, especially with regard to children. It had
enacted specific legislation to ensure financial support to the
victims of the attacks.

SAVIONA ROTLEVY, Judge at the Ministry of Justice of Israel, said
that it appeared to her that during the last few years, a real change
in the approach of the Israeli society towards children's rights
could be discerned. That had manifested itself in the gradual
acknowledgement in the Israeli society that children were themselves
the bearers of rights as individuals and human beings. Children, as
well as parents, caretakers and the authorities, had begun to realize
what the rights of children were, how those rights should be
protected, and how they affected their daily life.

Ms. Rotlevy gave a comprehensive account of the functions and
achievements of the special committee on children's rights which had
the official task of recommending a comprehensive plan for the
systematic implementation of the Convention in the law. It had taken
upon itself, however, a bigger role, which was to bring about a
change in the status of children in Israeli society and to ensure
that the Government recognized its responsibility with respect to
children.

Experts' Questions on General Measures, Definition of the Child, and
General Principles

The Committee Experts raised questions under the first cluster of
main issues concerning general measures of implementation, definition
of the child, and general principles.

JACOB EGBERT DOEK, the Committee Expert who served as rapporteur on
the report of Israel, said that the report was submitted very late;
it was analytical and self-critical in quite a number of places. He
said that poverty was widespread and had risen dramatically since the
1970s in Israel, and that an underclass was developing. Many Israeli
children lived under the poverty line and the gap between the rich
and poor was growing. There were also the social ills well known in
the Western world: high divorce rates, alcohol and drug addiction and
high unemployment rates.

Mr. Doek said that the report gave the impression that the Committee
was dealing with a peaceful legally progressive country;
unfortunately, the reality was different. The report completely
ignored the status of the children in the occupied Palestinian
territories and the very violent armed conflict that had been going
on for two years. Only when the Committee asked specifically for more
information about the children in the occupied territories had the
State party explained in the written replies why it did not provide
that information. It also gave very saddening information concerning
the impact that the intifada had and was having on children in
Israel.

Quoting an Amnesty International report dated October 2002, Mr. Doek
said that more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children had been
killed since the beginning of the intifada. They were among some
1,700 Palestinians and more than 580 Israelis, most of them
civilians, who had been killed since 29 September 2000. Increasingly,
children were bearing the brunt of the conflict, as both the Israeli
Defence Forces and the Palestinian armed groups showed an utter
disregard for the lives of children and other civilians. The pattern
of killing children which had become so entrenched and widespread in
the past two years had developed against a background of impunity for
the perpetrators of such crimes over many years prior to the current
intifada.

Mr. Doek said that the Committee was extremely concerned and deeply
regretted the suffering of Palestinians, Israeli and other children
within the State party's jurisdiction who should equally enjoy all
the rights enshrined in the Convention. From a child's prospective,
he said he was puzzled by the fact that adult people who so often
questioned the competence of children failed miserably in creating a
world despite all their competence in which children could live,
survive and develop. As an adult, the situation filled him with deep
sadness and a lot of anger about the incompetence of adults. Children
suffered a lot in the world and the most worrisome fact was that it
was most of the time the result of man-made disasters.

It was the opinion of the Committee that there was no reason to treat
Israel differently, Mr. Doek said. The State party was responsible
for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
for all the children within its jurisdiction, including the occupied
territories. Palestine was not a State party to the Convention.

Another Expert said that the work on the activities of the rights of
the child was carried out by several ministries. Was there a body in
charge of the centralized coordination of the implementation of the
Convention? Did such a mechanism include non-governmental
organizations (NGOs)? Did the Government envisage to have a
comprehensive national plan of action for children to comply with the
request of the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children
held in May 2002? Did NGOs receive funds from the Government once
they were recognized by the authorities?

An Expert wanted to know the percentage of the budget allocated to
children; the proportion of investment in education for Jewish and
Israeli-Arab pupils; and about the percentage cuts on the budget
concerning the rights of children. How did the Government collect
revenue to ensure its national budget? Was there a progressive
taxation system in Israel? What was the prospect of peace in the
region? The internal closure of borders had been hampering
Palestinians from enjoying their right to health, particularly
mothers and children. The delegation was requested to comment on
institutional discrimination against Israeli-Arabs.

Another Expert said that the Government of Israel should change the
way it was looking at its population. The distinction between Jews
and non-Jews might not reflect the actual reality. In the report,
mention was made of a "school convention", what was meant by that?
The situation of discrimination against Arab and Palestinian children
was of concern; in addition, the conditions of children who had
immigrated recently to Israel, such the Ethiopians, was worrying. The
delegation should provide information on the whole situation.

A speaker said that it was a concern that there was no legislative
mechanism for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention.
In addition to the laws passed by the parliament, Jewish religious
regulations existed on a parallel basis. Israel had international
responsibility for the implementation of the Convention in the
occupied Palestinian territories. The report had indicated that
children of foreign origin did not receive any form of assistance
from the Government; how were foreign children treated in schools.

An Expert said that the report was a very good achievement and it
contained all the necessary information; however, it would have been
excellent if it had included information on the situation of all
children under Israeli jurisdiction -- especially those in the
occupied Palestinian territories. She invited the delegation to
translate the report into Arabic and to make it a subject of national
dialogue, together with the Committee's conclusions on the report.
She gave accounts of discrimination against 100,000 bedouins living
in the desert areas; Ethiopians who were living separately from
others; and Israeli-Palestinians who were subjected to
discrimination.

Another Expert said that the report was of excellent quality although
it was too long. She said that there had been reports of
discrimination against people coming to Israel from Russia and
Africa. She wanted to know how the different religious leaders were
involved in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention.

An Expert asked about the prospect of children within the context of
the current conflict. What was the impact of the conflict on children
on both sides -- Israelis and Palestinians. Should the future of
children be destroyed like the structures of the Palestinian
Authority were being destroyed?

Response by Delegation of Israel

In response to the many questions raised by the Committee Experts,
the members of the Israeli delegation said that the responsibility of
the implementation of the Convention had been handed over to the
Palestinian Authority, which controlled 98 per cent of the occupied
territories. However, during the last two years, the rule of armed
conflict had been applied in all cases. Israel had been respecting
the Geneva conventions on the protection of civilians in times of
war. The casualties that occurred during the conflict included
children because of their involvement in the conflict. During the
latest two-year conflict, children had been recruited, indoctrinated
and used as suicide-bombers by Palestinian armed groups against
Israeli civilians. The report of Amnesty International that alleged
that cases of deaths of Palestinian children were not examined was
wrong. The authorities had carried out investigations on such
incidents.

The delegation said that the legal system in Israel was not
constituted in such a way that allowed it to directly incorporate
international treaties; the Government was promoting legislation with
the view of implementing the provisions of the Convention; however,
the provisions had already been implemented through the national
legislation designed to promote and protect child rights. There was a
shortage of coordination; however, once the Government succeeded in
adopting a bill on the rights of the child, a mechanism on child
complaints could be set up.

On the question on the quality of education of Israeli and
Israeli-Arab children, the delegation said that the Government had
insisted on equality and acceptability of education for all children.
There was also a proposal by the Government to implement affirmative
actions favouring vulnerable and immigrant children to end the
discrepancy existing at present. Budgetary increases were also
envisaged and there was a proposal to strengthen the infrastructure
of schools and other educational facilities.

The delegation said that the 1949 law and other provisions enacted
since then prohibited any form of discrimination on the grounds of
ethnic origin.

The national budget on education had been progressively increased by
the Government with the view to embracing all children with different
parental backgrounds, the delegation said. In addition, affirmative
measures had been taken to encourage vulnerable children to continue
their studies. Bedouins, Arabs and other groups had benefited from
such affirmative actions. The educational budget did not include
funds allocated to maintenance and development, which were aimed at
expanding schools buildings and increasing educational equipment,
including computers.

In order to upgrade the educational level of first grade teachers in
primary schools, the Government would provide, starting next week, an
on-the-job training programme involving 600 out of 1,360 teachers,
the delegation said. It was found that the low educational
performance by the pupils was attributed to the lack of literary
exposure of the students by the teachers. The notion of literature
would be emphasized during the courses given to the teachers during
two years -- four-hour courses per week. The lack of educational
counsellors for Arabic students had also been evident. The Government
would therefore recruit at least 200 counsellors every year.

Asked about the discrepancies in dropout rates between Arab and
Jewish students, the delegation said that the Government was
attempting to decrease the number of dropouts of Arab students by
introducing an extra-tuition system. The five-year plan had envisaged
a drastic reduction in the rate of dropouts between ninth and twelfth
grade students.

The delegation said that currently, there was no central authority
that was designed to be solely charged with children's rights. There,
was, however, coordination between the various ministries that dealt
with those issues.

The Government of Israel was endeavouring to provide universally
accepted health services in accordance with the standards of the
World Health Organization (WHO), the delegation said. Health
indicators were also indicators of other social parameters, such as
poverty. The infant mortality rate for all groups -- Jews, Muslims,
Christians and others -- dropped during the last decade. The main
cause for infant mortality among Jews was prematurity whereas in the
Muslim community it was congenital malformation because of
inter-marriage between relatives. Immunization programmes covered 94
per cent of the population, with special emphasis on Arab
communities.

The main cause of child mortality for children above one year old was
injury, the delegation said, adding that the Government was much
concerned about questions of injury prevention.

Asked about the legal status of Israelis living in the Gaza Strip and
West Bank, the delegation said that the Israeli legislation, if it
was not explicitly indicated, applied to citizens living within the
boundary of Israel. However, since the Israelis living under the
Palestinian Authorities did not pay taxes, they did not get the
privileges provided by the Israeli State, such as education. Those
who lived in Eastern Jerusalem and who had obtained Israeli
nationality or permanent residence permits enjoyed the social
benefits provided by Israel.

At least 130,000 Palestinians used to enter Israel on a daily basis
to work, and they used to receive medical assistance during their
stay, the delegation said. However, they were now hampered from
entering into Israel by the closure of the boundary to prevent the
infiltration of terrorists into the country.

Experts' Questions on Family Environment, Basic Health, Education,
and Special Measures

The Committee Experts raised their final round of questions on main
issues concerning family environment and alternative care; basic
health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and
special protection measures.

A question was raised by an Expert on why the military order no. 132
considered a Palestinian child of 16 years old as an adult; and if an
Israeli child of the same age was considered as an adult. At present,
there were a number of Palestinian children aged above 12 years
detained by Israel. The major offence of those children was
stone-throwing, which was considered as a threat to Israeli security.
Those children taken to Israel had been mistreated physically and
mentally. Parents were not allowed to visit their children.

Another Expert said that the Palestinian health system had been
destroyed and many people had not received medical treatment for one
year because of shortages in medicines and Israeli forces'
interference in medical activities. She said that preventable infant
death was occurring at check points due to lack of access to medical
assistance. Hospitals and other medical centres were no more a safe
haven for patients.

With regard to family environment, an Expert expressed concern about
the absence of a law concerning the legal obligations of foster
families. What was the difference between foster and shelter
families? With regard to school grounds, the Expert said that there
was water pollution; violence in schools; and restriction of students
to play grounds.

How did the State of Israel cope with the various laws for marriage,
such as the national law, Jewish law and special law for the occupied
territories, another Expert asked. While the age of majority was 18
years, in some areas, the age of majority was 16 years. In addition,
there should not be discrimination of age between the main and
occupied territories. Palestinian children were arrested and taken to
Israel just for throwing stones. Those children were badly treated in
prisons, and their chance to be visited by their parents was limited.

With regard to education, an Expert said that its goal was focused in
one direction and did not reflect the multi-cultural nature of the
Israeli population. The other cultures should be respected, and only
translating textbooks from the Jewish language into other languages
was not sufficient. It was not right to impose one culture on the
other cultures.

Country Response

In response to the Committee's questions, the members of the Israeli
delegation said that stone throwing could not be considered as a
simple action by Palestinian children. A number of Israeli civilians
had been severely hurt as a result of stone throwing.

With regard to these detainees, the delegation said that maximum
access was allowed to families to visit their children; and a
telephone service was also set up for that purpose. The parents of
those children were informed about their arrest. The children were
not detained together with adults, instead a special section was
created for them. The Israeli authorities were in close contact with
the International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) and visits were
carried out by its representatives.

Concerning ambulances, the delegation said that the authorities were
obliged to stop and check ambulances transporting patients because
some terrorists had abused the ambulances and used them to transport
terrorists and bombs. Even ambulances bearing Israeli emblems were
checked because of the terrorists' misuse of stolen Israeli
ambulances.

The delegation said that Israel had evacuated southern Lebanon,
however, the Hezbolah movement was still threatening the inhabitants
of northern Israel through its trans boundary attacks.

The delegation requested that the Committee include in its
recommendations its concern about the right to life and survival of
Israeli children in light of terrorist attacks, and to ask the
Palestinian Authority why its educational system was based on
incitement to hatred of Israel; the Committee should also insist that
Palestinian children be kept away from the conflict.

Preliminary Concluding Remarks

JACOB EGBERT DOEK, Chairperson and Committee Expert who acted as
rapporteur on the report of Israel, said that the Committee got a lot
of clarifications from the delegation and was able to understand the
position of Israel on different issues. A lot of efforts had to be
made to implement the Convention and to make it a reality for the
children, whether or not they were Jews. So far, the Israeli
authorities were on the right track and they should continue with
their efforts.

Mr. Doek said that the Committee's concern would be reflected in the
concluding observations and recommendations which it was going to
adopt on Friday, 4 October. Some of its concern would focus on the
conditions of Palestinian children in the occupied territories. The
Committee had confidence that the Israeli authorities would take into
account its concerns.

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