News Brief21:22 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Ministers and Members of Knesset had varying reactions to the approval of two laws encouraging organ donation on Monday.  Health Minister Yaakov Ben-Yizri expressed satisfaction, saying, “This is an historic day for residents of the state of Israel, on which these two laws were added after many years of untiring effort.”  The laws “put Israel in line with the most enlightened countries on earth,” he added.

In contrast, MKs Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) and Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) expressed deep concern, saying a law providing compensation to live donors could lead to a trade in human organs with government approval.  For some poor Israelis, even the NIS 18,000 offered as compensation for lost time and missed days of work could be sufficient reason to give a kidney, they said.