Knesset Law Committee Chairman MK Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) is promoting reforms that will phase out arrests for those who are delinquent in paying their debts.

Unpaid creditors are currently afforded various legal means by which to collect their debts - including, in some cases, the right to have their debtors arrested.  However, MK Ben-Sasson is pushing a program of reforms that will gradually phase this option out.

The set of proposals currently on the Law Committee's agenda states that beginning a year after the reforms take effect, debtors will no longer be able to be arrested.  Rather, the plan is that the government confiscation agencies will be equipped with better tools to aid them in collecting delinquent debts.  For instance, information on the debtors' ability to pay will be supplied even without the debtors' permission, and requests for the execution of judgments are to be processed more quickly.

The proposed reforms stipulate that during the 2nd to 4th years after they take effect, arrests will not be allowed - while the Law Committee receives, during the duration, periodic evaluations as to the efficiency of the new debt-collection procedures.

Opinion on the new arrangements is mixed.  The Deputy Attorney General, Didi Lachman-Messer, is in favor, while Attorney Dani Vachs of the Bank Union warns that debt collection will suffer.

Banks Must Provide Alternate Housing

An important aspect of the new reforms stipulates that banks that foreclose on debtors' houses must provide alternate housing for up to three years.

Arutz-7's Ayala Shilo reports that in 2007, over 367,000 requests for debt-related arrest were filed.  Of these, the police dealt with nearly 200,000.  Only 650 debtors were actually arrested, however.

Ben-Sasson says he wants to bring the above numbers down: "Our job is to help creditors collect their debts without abusing the scare tactics that, in my opinion, have not proven their effectiveness."