The Israel Land Authority fines “Be’Emunah” for discrimination

The Israel Land Authority has decided to fine the construction company “Be’Emunah” 323,000 [New Israeli Shekel] due to a discriminatory advertisement. This is the first time a construction company has been fined in Israel in accordance with the prohibition on discriminatory marketing of residential units, in Israel Land Authority tenders. In December 2015, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) submitted a petition to the Administrative Court in Jerusalem, calling to compel the Israel Land Authority (ILA) to penalize the “Be’Emunhah” company […] shortly after “Be’Emunah” distributed an offensive advertisement clip, presenting the housing development as intended for religious Ashkenazi Jews only, and mocking Israelis of Mizrahi origins.

The ILA held a hearing and its tender committee ruled that “Be’Emunah” did not intend to discriminate, nor did it discriminate in practice in its housing development against the Mizrahi population. However, they found that the advertisement contained discriminatory characteristics, giving rise to the concern that it would affect the nature of the prospective buyers with an interest in purchasing homes in the development.