Smotrich promises: "A good government will be established in the coming days" (Knesset Channel)
A clause in Likud's coalition agreement with the religious Zionist party led by Bezalel Smotrich states that "the government will not approve Israel's accession to the Istanbul Treaty."
This is a convention to combat violence against women, to which more than 40 countries in Europe have joined, and among other things, it clarifies that violence against women and within the family is not a matter for the individual, but a phenomenon that the state must eradicate through a comprehensive policy.
The outgoing government was supposed to approve Israel's accession to the convention, a move that infuriated right-wing elements claiming that the convention could require the granting of status to many persecuted women.
Finally, the approval of Israel's accession was blocked by the legal advice to the government since it was an election period.
The Istanbul Convention is the first international convention in which the prevention of violence against women is regulated and which recognizes the phenomenon of violence against women, in both the private and public spheres, as a global phenomenon.
The purpose of the convention is to prevent violence against women in general, and violence against women in the family in particular, to protect victims, and to apply appropriate punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.
The convention entered into force for the first time in 2014 and requires the countries that ratified it to act in four areas of activity: preventing violence, protecting victims of violence, prosecuting the attackers and cooperation between relevant parties.
45 countries and the European Union signed the convention, and it was ratified and entered into force in at least 35 countries, all of which are members of the Council of Europe.
Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar planned to promote Israel's accession to the treaty in the outgoing government, with reservations from two of its sections: the one that requires it to grant residency to women with no status who suffer from violence, and the one that requires it to compensate victims of violence in a situation where the perpetrator or the insurance does not cover the damage.
Despite this, right-wing organizations expressed opposition to joining the convention because they claimed that the country's reservations on issues related to immigration and gender equality were insufficient.
It is estimated that religious Zionism opposes it for the same reason, even though the reason for this does not appear in the agreement with it.
opposes the addition of Israel to the treaty.
Smotrich (Photo: Reuven Castro)
In April, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked sent a letter to Sa'ar, detailing many reservations to the convention.
Shaked claimed, among other things, that the clauses of the treaty concerning persecution based on gender-based violence open "a door for a population unprecedented in scope to be able to claim refugee status or, unfortunately, for protection against removal."
In her letter, it was stated that "with all the regret, the granting of political asylum is not intended and cannot be a solution to any type of difficulty or distress that exists in less developed countries of origin, certainly and certainly when it comes to cross-cultural phenomena. Such a reality is of course not desirable from a practical point of view as it is an opening to countless requests Asylum on grounds that are difficult to almost impossible to disprove, and hence the abuse of the Israeli asylum system."
Shaked claimed, for example, that the Istanbul Convention does not distinguish between physical and psychological violence as grounds for granting refugee status, and this would make it difficult for the state to prove that asylum seekers do not suffer from violence in the case of false claims.
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He planned to promote Israel's accession to the treaty while making reservations on two of its articles.
Sa'ar (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Against the background of the pressure exerted by the right, Sa'ar postponed the vote in the government on the issue and later - the position of the deputy prosecutor, attorney Gil Lemon, froze the proceedings.
Lemon wrote to Sa'ar that "a government operating during an election period is obliged to exercise restraint and restraint in the exercise of its powers, when each case must be examined individually."
He added that "it seems that there is no urgency in promoting the accession to the convention at the present time, especially in light of the fact that the invitation to join it is valid for five years - so that the incoming government can be required for the question of joining the convention."
In his letter, the deputy also mentioned considerations that support the completion of the process of joining the convention, even though it is an election period, including the fact that the work on the application for joining began in 2016 and was delayed due to the Knesset elections and the lack of a state budget between 2019-2021, but in the end he determined that the move is not applicable during such a period.
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Bezalel Smotrich
