The Bar Association decided to grant a 50% discount in the Bureau's taxes to members of the Bar who are drafted into the reserves. This came a day after Israel Hayom reported on the displeasure of reservists who are members of the Bar that their work has been halted since they were drafted into the reserves, but they are required to continue paying membership taxes to the Bar Association as usual.
Defense Minister Galant in dialogue with reservists in Metula: "If Hezbollah wants to rise one level, we will go up five" \\ Shahar Yurman
According to the report, while professional guilds mobilized for the benefit of their members, the Bar Association continued to collect membership fees as usual from all lawyers who were drafted into reserve duty under Order 8 and are still inside Gaza and on the northern border. When the bureau was approached to see if they would at least be reimbursed for the months they were in reserve, they were told that they had to continue paying the member's taxes.
One of them, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that since October 8, like many in the country, he has been drafted into the reserves and naturally his office work has come to a complete halt. To make matters worse, until recently there were not even hearings and the judicial system worked sparingly, at most. "While all the professional guilds have pitched in for the benefit of their fellow reservists, the Bar Association treats its members as a deep pocket, and it is in fact the only one that can and does not give any backing to its fellow reservists – except by applying for an exemption from a discount to which proof of financial difficulty must be attached. A practice that in itself, regardless of the war, is humiliating and uncomfortable to say the least."
The Israel Bar Association said in response that "a lawyer who is in reserve duty and is unable to pay at this time - the bar will not enforce payment. If later and upon the end of the hostilities, he/she has a financial problem to pay - the exemptions and discounts committee will assist him/her. In addition, the Chamber provides a grant and loan fund for the benefit of lawyers who have run into financial problems. No one will find themselves facing a broken trough."
Reservists in a gunnery battery in the Upper Galilee (archive), photo: Eyal Margolin - Genie
As stated, today the Bureau posted on its Facebook page that a 50% discount on membership fees will be given to independent lawyers in reserve duty and evacuees from the northern envelope. "According to the decision of the National Council of the Bar Association made today, the discount will be given to independent lawyers who served more than 30 days in the reserves during the war or who were evacuated from their homes during the fighting according to the government's decision," the post said.
In the comments on the post, there is still a lot of resentment among the members: "Why only 50%? As far as I know, the Israel Bar Association has enough budget in its coffers to exempt them from paying from October 7, 10 until the end of 23. Why not exempt them?" wrote one member, while another added: "A welcome initiative and still the reservists should have been given a full exemption from paying dues... And if anything, give a 2024 percent discount to the rest of the lawyers whose income has been affected by the war."
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