Israel almost got into a legal entanglement that would have forced it to radically change its immigration policies, Israel Hayom has learned in the wake of the recent saga surrounding the proposed adoption of the Istanbul Convention.
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The convention, whose goal is to fight domestic violence, has several controversial articles, including Article 60, which says that any woman that has become a victim of gender-based violence can apply to become a refugee, and Article 51, which stipulates that women should not be returned to their country of origin if there is the fear they would be subject to such violent acts.
In the runup to the now-ditched decision to join the convention, Israeli policymakers said they would add their own interpretation to avoid opening the floodgates to applicants. During these deliberations inside the Justice Ministry, one of the Israeli experts in the field who was consulted by the ministry, the head of the Israeli Immigration Policy Dr. Yona Cherki, voiced concern.
He said that Poland tried to use this same method but failed because the other signatories to the convention rejected its attached interpretation and the body that was in charge of implementing the convention mounted a campaign to pressure Poland, forcing it to turn to its parliament to enact special legislation to end its membership.
"When this [Polish ordeal] was revealed, the Justice Ministry's legal counsel said that the difficulties facing Poland were due to the poorly drafted interpretation, adding that Latvia was more successful," Cherki said, but then noted that both Latvia and Poland had the same language in their added interpretation. Cherki said Latvia's stance has not faced scrutiny for the simple reason that it has yet to ratify the convention."
The proposed Israeli interpretation says that Israel would defend women based on the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees even though the Israeli Supreme Court has already noted that Instabul Convention signatories must follow its laws, including those granting refugee status to those running away from gender-based violence. In other words, the proposed Israeli interpretation to the Istanbul Convention would be misleading because the Supreme Court in Israel has already rendered such an interpretation as moot by saying the Istanbul Convention overrides it once its adopted.
"On the one hand the ministry's legal counsel says that the interpretation would protect Israeli interests but on the other hand it allows, through the back door [of the courts], to apply the Istanbul Convention's text in full," Cherki said.
The Justice Ministry told Israel Hayom that Cherki's claims "lack any substance." Regarding the Polish experience that Cherki noted during the discussions, the ministry said that "at this point the issue is still under review and therefore we won't comment any further."
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