Justice Minister (The Movement) Tzipi Livni is backing a bill that in certain cases will forgive personal debts of Israelis up to a ceiling of 400,000 shekels. She refers to persons now the subject of collection proceedings by the State Collection Authority.
The minister explains that that persons who lack the means to repay these debts would be forgiven and they would then be able to get on with building their lives rather than being broken by the overwhelming amount of money owed and/or possibly facing prison since in Israel, there is still debtors’ prison.
Livni stresses that each case would be judged on its own merit and the status of the debtors and creditors would be taken into consideration as well as the debtors’ ability to repay and financial status. She feels the bill is in line with the concept of the shmitah year and forgiving one’s debts when applicable.
Livni’s bill joins a initiative announced by President Reuven Rivlin, his Shemittah Project which he hopes will assist thousands of families escape a life of debt.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
So what is it – like bankruptcy? There have got to be some strings attached. Please fill in the blanks.
Surprise, surprise, she actually said something good.
Does the state collection authority collect only money owed to the government (ie, taxes, fines, fees, etc) or civil judgements, too? Also, it doesn’t appear to be restricted to those whose income is predominately agricultural and are observing the laws of Shmitta. Is that correct?
blubluh, shmittah cancels all debts, this has nothing to do with the agricultural aspects of shmittah.
The Israelis have obscene debt collection laws inherited from the Brits (the “imperial” version, not the somewhat better version used in Britain). They are gradually moving towards the American debtor-friendly system.
#2 #3
agreed
Mayor fiorelli Laguardia (Lagardenhose)
“always ready to help before elections”