Opposition delays migrant employers bill

Bill would increase jail time given to employers of illegal migrants from 2 to 5 years; Akunis slams Kadima for delay.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
A controversial bill that would have increased the jail time given to employers of illegal migrants from two to five years was postponed Wednesday due to the opposition of the Kadima faction and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beytenu).
The bill passed at the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday and would have passed on a preliminary reading at the Knesset on Wednesday. But Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz pressured Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to delay the vote.
Likud MK Ophir Akunis, who sponsored the measure, slammed Kadima for the delay and vowed to pass it next week.
“Residents of south Tel Aviv, Eilat and Arad cannot wait for the intolerable situation around their homes to improve,” Akunis said. “I expect Kadima MKs to come together next week and vote for this important bill.”
MK Danny Danon (Likud) went further, saying: “The infiltrators from Kadima are working for the infiltrators from Africa and acting as an opposition part within the coalition.”