The Kohelet Forum on Wednesday responded to a decision by the Supreme Court to invalidate a law encouraging illegal infiltrators to leave the country, criticizing the decision as "harming the rule of law."
"The Supreme Court once again canceled yet another law dealing with the immigration policies in Israel, while demonstrating the failing which led to the judicial overhaul," the Kohelet Forum said.
"The court does not have the responsibility and authority to manage Israel's immigration policy, but it turns again and again to the 'judgement day weapon' of canceling main legislation by the Knesset, while dramatically influencing Israel's future as the Jewish nation-state.
"The court has also ignored Basic Law: The Nation, which places the national consideration as the central consideration in issues such as this."
The Forum continued: "The law which was invalidated today anchored an economic incentive to foreign workers to leave immediately upon the expiry of their visa, and otherwise absorb detractions from their pension plans that they have accumulated. As Justice Solberg wrote in the minority opinion, this does not at all harm rights, since if the foreign worker had left on time, as per the law, he would not have suffered financial harm."
"As a result, foreign workers who are law-abiding and who leave Israel on time will lose money, while the criminal will come out rewarded. We have here a systematic removal, step by step, of the tools which the Knesset has placed in order to manage illegal immigration."
"This ruling - with all due honor and with great pain - harms the rule of law over Israel's borders, does not advance human rights in Israel, and interferes unjustifiably in the domain of the legislative authority," the Forum concluded.