According to speculation, the "iron swords" war in the Gaza Strip will continue for several months and will cost the state a fortune, not only the fighting itself but also aid to the home front, especially the evacuees. There are already those talking about closing unnecessary government ministries, cutting the remaining ones, and reducing coalition funds.
Here is a target for the cut: As part of the coalition agreements, it was determined that each year the government would transfer NIS 3 million to the Jewish Law Unit in the Ministry of Justice – NIS 12 million per term, in addition to the unit's budget. However, an examination of the diary of the unit's director, Dr. Michael Vigoda, reveals meager activity. Vigoda claimed that the diary did not reflect his activity in writing opinions and studies, but refused to give them.
The "Foundations of Law Law" states that when a court encounters a question without an answer in existing law, it must turn to Jewish law. The Jewish Law Unit in the Ministry of Justice claims that it is working to implement the law with legal advice and opinions that it provides to government ministries. The unit has three employees, including two expensive positions of employees with doctoral degrees, while the unit's manager, Vigoda, has extensive seniority. A management source in the Justice Ministry estimated his salary at NIS 420,300 a year and that of his deputy at NIS <>,<>.
Dr. Michael Vigoda, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Looking at Vigoda's activity diary for 2022, which was received as part of a Freedom of Information request submitted by Success for Israel Hayom, it is unclear how the unit's members fill their days and justify their budgets. According to Vigoda's diary, there are only 11.5 activities per month on average, while there are whole consecutive days in which no activity was recorded at all. Many activities are not a service to the state, such as lectures and filmed lessons, along with participation in ceremonies and more. It should be noted that according to the diary, each month there are about two significant activities of professional discussions in ongoing proceedings or bills.
The diary is full of the department's videos, "Encounters with Jewish Law," which were viewed by only 50-250 viewers on YouTube. Recently, the unit invested about half a million shekels for Projector, no less, which will produce animated videos about Jewish law.
Vigoda responded through the Justice Ministry that "most of his work, which concerns research and writing, is not reflected in the diary." We asked for the opinions and studies authored by Vigoda and his department – but he refused to provide them. Even when we suggested that only their titles be transferred instead of the opinions, and when they were written, he refused. The spokeswoman referred to the Justice Ministry's website, where there are 149 opinions of the department, but they were written over two decades. The last review is from February 2023, since for 8 months no new reviews have been updated on the site.
The Justice Ministry's response detailed two issues dealt with by the department that appear in the diary, as well as two studies, but the studies were not written as an advisory service to the state or in general for it, and were published in a non-state book and academic journal, as part of the private academic activities of the unit's employees. As if this were not enough, since 2016, the Ministry of Justice and the Jewish Law Unit have transferred between NIS 700 million and NIS 5,300 annually in an exemption from tender to a private NGO called "Heritage of Law in Israel" for what Vigoda and his department are ostensibly supposed to do: "The services that the association provides to the ministry are: research hours up to 150,2023 hours at a rate of NIS <> per hour," courses and conferences, according to the Ministry of Finance's tender exemption document. The contract was only recently terminated in August <>, but a new tender is expected to be published.
Vigoda's response through a Justice Ministry spokesperson:
"These are tendentious claims, some of which are baseless. The Jewish Law Unit has made a significant and unique contribution over the years to the firm's work. The unit handles a variety of issues, including accompanying responses submitted by the state to petitions to the High Court of Justice, accompanying various legislative proceedings, providing legal advice, research, and more. Thus, for example, in recent years the Unit accompanied the State's response in a proceeding dealing with the use of a deceased woman's egg and in a petition dealing with the possibility of women taking the Chief Rabbinate exams, and so on.
A significant part of the unit's work is not reflected on the unit's website, whether because the cases in which it is involved are pending in the various courts, because they are confidential cases (for example, in genealogical eligibility cases), or because of other professional reasons. Naturally, a person's diary does not reflect all his activities. Even more so, the diary does not represent the activity of the entire unit. Thus, the opinions written to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, responses to inquiries, etc., as well as meetings and other consultations that are not necessarily listed in the diary. In recent years, the unit's budget has been no more than NIS 70 million a year (3% of which is coalition funds), while during the period of political instability and lack of a state budget, the allocation was completely suspended. The current government has indeed approved an increase in coalition funds to NIS 2023 million in the 24/<> budgets, which opens the possibility of expanding activity.
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