Earlier this week, the chairman of the State Employees’ Union, attorney Ofir Elkalei, instructed Tax Authority employees not to enter Bnei Brak to provide services or carry out field operations due to a genuine concern for harm to their physical safety and lives, following attacks on Authority inspectors in recent weeks.
In a letter sent by Elkalei to Tax Authority Director-General Shai Aharonovich, he noted that a labour dispute is currently ongoing within the Authority, including concerns regarding employees’ security and safety conditions and the real possibility of them being harmed while carrying out their work.
“The recent events unfortunately demonstrate that the concerns we have raised are not theoretical, but rather a real danger that has materialised in practice,” he wrote. He stressed that the attack on two employees from the Bookkeeping Management Unit last Thursday was not an isolated incident, but rather the second time in recent weeks that Tax Authority employees arriving in Bnei Brak to carry out their duties had been attacked.
“This sequence of events indicates a tangible and ongoing security risk that requires immediate, systemic and effective action from the Authority’s management and all relevant authorised bodies.”
Elkalei praised the Authority’s management for making clear in its letter to the Bnei Brak Municipality that the incident constituted serious behaviour that must be condemned, but added that the matter cannot be allowed to remain “merely a condemnation.”
“The State Employees’ Union has warned the relevant authorities several times about the security concerns and the risks faced by Tax Authority employees working in field units of this kind. Despite our requests and warnings, to date no adequate solution has been provided to ensure the safety and security of employees while they carry out their duties.
This concerns various units within the Tax Authority—the Bookkeeping Management Unit, the Enforcement and Collections Unit, as well as customs employees stationed at the various border crossings.”
Elkalei stressed that during the upcoming period, in which Authority employees will not enter Bnei Brak, the State Employees’ Union intends to examine the measures required to ensure employees’ safety, including security arrangements, escorts, coordination with law enforcement authorities, and any other mechanism required to address the risk.
“We request that the Tax Authority’s management act immediately to formulate an agreed and practical solution that will allow employees to carry out their work without fear for their safety. The union is prepared to hold urgent discussions on this matter, but it cannot accept a situation in which employees are sent into the field without an adequate security response.”
Last week, Tax Authority Director-General Shai Aharonovich sent a letter to Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Zeibert, announcing that he had instructed Authority employees to stop handling damage claims for property belonging to city residents that occurred during the military operations against Iran, until the Bnei Brak Municipality issued an unequivocal condemnation of the attack on Authority inspectors through the media outlets of the Haredi community.
Aharonovich and Bnei Brak Mayor Rabbi Hanoch Zeibert met together with senior Authority officials. The mayor stressed during the meeting that there is no place for violence in the city, and Aharonovich emphasised that the Tax Authority would continue providing services in Bnei Brak.