![]() |
Prostitution in Israel |
According to Atzum, a social justice organization in Israel,
Israel’s current policy allows adults to participate in the buying and selling of sex. They are not, however, allowed to solicit sex from minors, “pimp”,
traffic, own a brothel or advertise sex. Those actions will result in legal
punishments including time in prison. Atzum was established in 2002 with the
sole purpose of fighting against injustice in Israel. The word “Atzum” is
comprised of three different words: Avodat (work), Tzedakah (justice), B’Mishpat
(judgement) – all contributing to Atzum’s mission to create change and pursue
justice in Israel.
Those who are in favor of better structuring this policy are
strong advocates of the Nordic Model. According to the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution, Iceland, Norway and Finland have experienced a significant
decrease in prostitution activity since establishing the Nordic Model. The
Nordic Model would place more of an emphasis on the health and wellness of sex
workers while penalizing those demanding sex for commercial use.
In an article titled, “Israel Wants to Completely Criminalize Paying for Sex”, Haaretz correspondent Sharon Pulwer discusses the proposed
legislation in the Knesset regarding criminalizing prostitution in Israel. She
mentions early on in her article that there is a large amount of support for
this legislation among members of the Knesset. Sharon Pulwer has covered a
multitude of topics during her time with Haaretz. They include terror attacks,
politics, religious issues and more. Her coverage of anti-prostitution
legislation is part of the vast array of information she is able to report on.
Pulwer mentions several different people involved in the inter-ministerial
committee handling this legislation. Inter-ministerial committees are
established to look more closely at laws and legislation such as the ones
regarding prostitution. Another example of the work done by an inter-ministerial committee is an assignment regarding bill on divorce refusal. Pulwer mentions
that the inter-ministerial committee assigned to the prostitution legislation
is made up of members from a wide range of other ministries that deal with health,
finance, public security, etc.
Some of the statements included in Pulwer’s article come
from ministry members. Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, a member of the Knesset, confirmed
that everyone on this particular inter-ministerial committee had a good
understanding of the current prostitution level of activity. Moalem-Refali has
served on various committees related to health and wellness, sexual harassment,
trafficking, and more. Another statement made in Pulwer’s article is from the
Head of Health Ministry’s Levinsky Clinic and Health Ministry representative on
this committee, Yael Gur. Her statement provides insight as to how this piece
of legislation will affect female prostitutes, financially, early on. Pulwer
also mentions Efrat Sherabi, deputy head of services for the individual and
family welfare at the Social Affairs Ministry. Sherabi, also serving as a
member of this inter-ministerial committee, sheds some light on the fact that
prostitution is a main source of income for a rather large majority of
prostitutes in Israel. She follows this point with the idea that there must be
some alternative to a prostitute’s form of income. All of these voices are
found in the sections of Pulwer’s article focusing on the information of the
proposed legislation and how it could benefit the lives of sex workers.
When discussing those against the proposed legislation,
Pulwer uses statements from one voice: Hagit Lernau, deputy head of the Public Defender’s office and member of this inter-ministerial committee. Lernau claims
that this legislation will not put an end to prostitution and, if anything, it
will lessen the amount of police protection that they are given. She adds that
this legislation is a “problematic approach.”
Puwel offers a sufficient amount of detail on the proposed
legislation, current statistics regarding prostitution, and activity taking
place in the inter-ministerial committee responsible for the bill. While the
section referring to the opposition of the bill does offer insight into the
other side of this story, there is only one voice used as opposed to the
earlier article sections that use a plethora of voices. It is possible that the
author chose to only give that much information on the opposition to persuade readers,
or it shows that there was not enough information to present in regards to
people opposing the bill.
Each piece of data in Puwel’s article begins with “According
to…” but the source is very vague. For example, there is no website or
information link attached to the data source that could support the given data.
While the facts presented seem reliable, it does make it a bit difficult to
fact check and learn more about the data.
Puwel’s article is vastly different from an article
published on the Times of Israel website. Author Marissa Newman sheds some
light on the idea that Israelis are very much against the proposed legislation
in her article, “In anti-prostitution battle, Israel takes a trick out of Europe’s book.” In comparison to Newman’s article, Puwel’s article sets a much
more neutral tone regarding the issue. Puwel’s article focuses on the issue in
a more political sense while Newman’s article has a very personal tone due to
her use of statements from actual prostitutes in Israel.
At the top of Puwel’s article is an image of a prostitute in
Israel with the caption “A prostitute on the street. Exposed to exploitation,
disease and violence.” Her article itself is very politically focused but this
caption hints at an attitude more in favor of the proposed legislation.
Donna Rosenthal’s book, “The Israelis”, includes a chapter
titled, “Hookers and Hash in the Holy Land.” It provides lots of personal,
historical and statistical evidence supporting the criminalization of
prostitution in Israel. Rosenthal provides data regarding the increasing rates
of venereal disease and AIDS transmissions in Israel. She follows this with a
statement from a sixteen-year-old rehab escapee who holds a rather careless
attitude toward who she provides sexual services to. Rosenthal may have
included this statement to show how relaxed the policy is and how it could
potentially affect the health and well-being of the prostitutes themselves (Rosenthal
372 in the 2008 edition).
Rosenthal also presents evidence on past attempts to push
for more penalization of human trafficking. She explains that many women’s
organizations have protested against the very laid-back attitude of the police
regarding treatment of prostitutes. They have even gone the length as to show
politicians first hand what living in a brothel looks like through giving them
tours. In addition to all of those attempts, they continue to push the Knesset
for a more structured approach to the penalization of human trafficking (Rosenthal
376-377 in the 2008 edition).