The Labor and Welfare Committee of the Knesset, chaired by MK Yisrael Eichler, discussed the violation of the rights of foreign citizens in Israel, many of them university or yeshiva students.
According to the chairman of the committee, the problem stems from a lack of synchronization between government ministries, such as the Population Authority, and the National Insurance Institute, which sometimes causes unwarranted termination of foreigners' healthcare coverage.
Eichler said that "Synchronization of information between government ministries and government authorities is necessary in the digital age. It will make it easier for the citizen and save on bureaucracy, minimizing missing forms and unnecessary waiting. A committee in the Knesset should not be needed to make government ministries talk and transfer current information between themselves - they should do that of their own accord."
According to Attorney Danny Zakan, Deputy Head of the Insurance and Collection Administration at the National Insurance Institute, there are thousands of students whose life is centered in Israel, despite living abroad. They hold A2 and A4 visas, which can be cancelled by various errors, or by crossing Israel's borders. This in turn cancels the holder's insurance, a matter which could be resolved in short order with the passport numbers collected by the Population Authority.
Attorney Arel, from the Legal Bureau of the Population Authority, replied that the information will be transferred within about a month, once the National Insurance Institute requests it in an appropriate form. Ofer Yishai, Director of the National Digital System, added that there is already an infrastructure that allows government ministries to transfer information and communicate with each other and among other institutions. According to him, the system is constantly working to improve the transmission of information.
MK Debbie Biton proposed that a permanent computerized system be established that would synchronize information between the authorities, without the need to submit a specific request each time.
The chairman of the committee, MK Eichler, summarized the demands of the government parties and an agreement was reached that by the Hebrew month of Nissan, the National Insurance Institute will receive all the required information from the Population Authority and will bring an end to the unnecessary suffering of thousands of students and all Israeli citizens living abroad.