One bill is designed to address decisions regarding immigration and the status of non-Jews; Second bill addresses visa conditions for foreigners working as caretakers.

Two government-sponsored bills targeting foreigners and residents trying to obtain residency status for their relatives will come before a Knesset committee before being returned to parliament for a final vote.

The first bill to reach the Interior and Environment Committee proposes that Israel set up a tribunal for foreigners that would decide on matters of "immigration, entering Israel and leaving it, and matters of citizenship." Native-born residents of Israel, like children of the permanent residents of East Jerusalem, would also be under the tribunal´s purview.

The tribunal would fall under the Justice Ministry, and the judges would be contracted to work up to three years, though the ministry could extend their tenure. They would decide on cases sent to them without either a public or oral hearing, based exclusively on written arguments. The ministry would not have to present documents to the tribunal and would be entitled to demand a hearing in the presence of the state only.

The setting up of the tribunal is controversial because the Justice Ministry would be adjudicating its own decisions and ruling whether its policy is legal.

"If it becomes law, the bill would deal a devastating blow to the separation of powers, the openness of judicial hearings, and the rules of natural justice," Association for Civil Rights in Israel attorney Oded Feller wrote in a position paper sent by ACRI to the committee chairman, MK David Azoulay (Shas ).

The bill is also problematic in that it is designed to address Interior Ministry decisions regarding immigration and the status of non-Jews. These issues are currently not formalized in legislation, but rather in internal guidelines of the interior and justice ministries.

A second bill to be discussed by the committee concerns the conditions of visas given to foreigners working as caretakers. The bill - an amendment to the law defining rules of entry to Israel - allows the Interior Minister to determine the number of employers that foreigners can work for legally. It also makes the permits region-specific, limiting workers´ ability to move from one employer to another.

The bill is being strongly opposed by human rights organizations, who argue that it paves the way to modern-day slavery. "The bill is completely unconstitutional and contradicts a ruling by the Supreme Court," said Hani Ben Yisrael of Worker´s Hotline. (© Copyright 2011 Ha´aretz 03/17/11)