Israel Shortcut’s Survey: the Jerusalem Municipality Delivers Claims Against Foreign Citizens in Hebrew Only
14.09.2016
In recent years, due to the increasing aliya and massive settlement of foreign nationals to Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular, many government and municipal companies are providing services adapted to this non-Hebrew speaking sector.
In the past few days, tens of thousands of Jerusalem residents with foreign citizenship have received a letter from a lawyer’s office suing them for property taxes owed to the Jerusalem municipality, with the letters appearing in Hebrew only, a language which these residents are either not fluent in or don't understand at all.
After residents turned to Israeli Shortcut, which assists the population of foreign citizens in Israel in dealing with the authorities, the organization conducted an official survey on the problem.
Israeli Shortcut discovered that not only the Jerusalem municipality does not serve foreign language speakers in the city, but it also employs a lawyer’s firm that sends financial claims and warning letters demanding payment in Hebrew only. It found that the residents’ request to get the letters in English usually received an obtuse and irrelevant response.
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In the past few days, tens of thousands of Jerusalem residents with foreign citizenship have received a letter from a lawyer’s office suing them for property taxes owed to the Jerusalem municipality, with the letters appearing in Hebrew only, a language which these residents are either not fluent in or don't understand at all.
After residents turned to Israeli Shortcut, which assists the population of foreign citizens in Israel in dealing with the authorities, the organization conducted an official survey on the problem.
Israeli Shortcut discovered that not only the Jerusalem municipality does not serve foreign language speakers in the city, but it also employs a lawyer’s firm that sends financial claims and warning letters demanding payment in Hebrew only. It found that the residents’ request to get the letters in English usually received an obtuse and irrelevant response.