The Equal Opportunity Commission of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Labor reported Tuesday that it has received 435 referrals since the start of the year, of which 14 concern discrimination in hiring, according to preliminary figures. The figures show that 3.5 percent of the referrals were for discriminatory want ads.

Commissioner Tziona Koenig-Yair said the figures represent an increase in referrals. She added that the commission was successful in having discriminatory ads removed from the media.