Anyone employing an illegal migrant will go to prison for five years,according to a bill by MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) that passed its preliminaryreading on Wednesday.
The bill, which passed with 33 in favor and 13 opposed, will have to go through three more votes inthe plenum as well as committee meetings before becoming law.
The legislation states that anyone who employs, aids or provides housingfor illegal migrants must serve a five-year prison sentence or pay a NIS500,000 fine.
Previously, the crime carried a two-year prison sentence.
“The infiltration issue, which has become the central social problem inIsrael, must be taken care of quickly in order to help the weaker parts of oursociety,” Akunis said. “This bill will remove the incentive for infiltrators tocome to Israel in order to find work.”