Jerusalem, Israel - Jan. 1, 2018 - Oded Plus, the Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, issued a new directive to the country’s religious councils today (Sunday), on increasing transparency and freedom of expression, including the appointment of officials responsible for overseeing this issue among its employees. "This is an important step in making religious services accessible," said ITIM, an organization, which helps people navigate the religious authorities’ bureaucracy in Israel.”
According to the new directive, "the head of each Council must assign one of its employees the responsibility for the issue of freedom of expression and increased transparency.” The Director General will be expected "to provide a report on the website of the Council and of the Ministry of Justice once a quarter, relating to requests for freedom of expression (...) to characterize all existing information in the Council and to submit a work plan to the head of the religious council with regard to the publication of information on the Council’s website.
In addition, the head of each local council was instructed to publish data, which is not normally available to the public on its website, including the budget of the Religious Council, tenders, reports, the list of bodies exempt from tender, the list of bodies receiving support from the Council and the monetary amounts, the protocols of meetings (retroactive from January), and the annual work plan.
ITIM praised the move. "We welcome the appointment of officials responsible for freedom of expression in the religious councils, which is an important step in making religious services accessible to all citizens. ITIM will continue to be a bridge, helping those who experience difficulties when facing the religious authorities, and hope that this step is the beginning of a new and welcome development in the religious services provided in Israel. "
