The sentiment that children should be recognized as persons in their own right was captured by the words of Janusz Korczak, when he wrote "children are people - not people to be, not people of tomorrow, but people now, right now - today".¹

Israel's approximately 2.2 million children comprise 33% of the population. Although the country's birth rate has seen a decline over the past 30 years, Israel still remains a child centric society. As a result, the government and nongovernmental organizations provide many services focused on the needs of the child.

Israeli child advocacy organizations generally tend to focus on the many problems that need to be solved in society and view the cup of children's rights as half empty and in need of improvement. Nonetheless, the other half of the cup should be recognized, and the innovations, progress and hopeful steps towards change deserve to be noted. Below is a brief survey of some notable achievements in the legislative, judicial and service sectors.

A survey of child-related laws in Israel serves as a good barometer of the country's attitude towards children's rights. While it is not possible to enumerate every one of the hundreds of laws that Israel has enacted in this field, some of the more important pieces of legislation deserve mention.

Compulsory Education Law, 1949 determines the obligation and right of the minor to education (from age 5 to 16).

Age of Marriage Law, 1950 limits the age of marriage in order to protect minors from compulsory marriage and the marriage of immature children.

Youth Labor Law, 1953 was enacted to prevent child labor and financial manipulation of children that might damage a child's health, education or normal development. This law is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the more specific conventions of the International Employment Organization.

Laws of Evidence - Protection of Children, 1955 is a unique and progressive law even by international standards. Enacted to alleviate the trauma of undergoing police investigations and testifying in court, the law permits a child investigator (not a police officer) to testify in place of the child. Further, a child's competency to testify in court will be determined by the best interests of the child and not always the best interest of the investigation.

Along with the aforementioned legislation, the 1950's also saw the codification of Israel's commitment towards its children in the form of child allowances, maternity allowances, and childbirth grants. Since 1959, families receive monthly allowances depending on the number of children in the family.

Treatment and Supervision of Youth Law, 1960 creates a special mechanism for protecting children through juvenile courts and child protection officers.

Adjudication, Punishment and Treatment of Youth Law, 1971 establishes a separate court system, special probation officers and rehabilitation institutions designated to handle juvenile delinquents.

Prevention of Abuse of Minors and the Helpless Law, 1989 makes it mandatory to report any suspected abuse by a parent or other responsible party to the authorities. This law also aggravates the punishment of a child abuser who is the child's guardian or a family member.

In August 1991, the State of Israel became one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A few years later, a public committee was formed by the Minister of Justice to examine Israel's legislation for conformity with the provisions of the Convention. This committee is instrumental in promoting the issue of children's rights in Israel.

In recent years, Israeli legislation has begun to recognize that children have rights and are not just objects of protection. For example, the right of a child to voice his opinion and participate in proceedings that significantly affect his life is established in an Amendment to the Youth Labor Law, in respect to work in advertising and modeling. In this field there is an obligation to consider the position of the minor as part of any decision concerning his or her well-being. Similarly, in a 1995 Amendment to the Treatment and Supervision Youth Law, minors were given the right to oppose forced hospitalization for mental illness and the right to be represented by a lawyer.

Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, 1992 also has had important implications on children's rights by recognizing that the law protects an individual's dignity regardless of whether he is an adult or a minor. As interpreted by Aharon Barak, President of the Israeli Supreme Court, these rights are given to both an adult person and a person who is a minor.²

Students Rights Law, 2000, states that "(i)t is every student's right that discipline in the educational institution be applied in a dignified manner, including the right that no corporal or degrading means of punishment will be used against him."

Children who are accused or suspected of committing offenses are also protected by legislation. The law prohibits publication and disclosure of names and identifying details of minors who have been accused of crimes. The law also entitles minors who have been arrested or indicted to an attorney. The courts assist the legislator in protecting the rights of children. At times the courts themselves establish the desirable norms of conduct towards children.

The courts have also encouraged a change in attitude towards children. If, in the past, court decisions related to children merely as the objects of defense, today, the courts see children as autonomous entities with their own rights. Some of the more progressive rulings are as follows.

Negation of Corporal Punishment as an Educational Tool

In a precedent-setting verdict, the Supreme Court has ruled that corporal punishment, even if seemingly used for educational purposes, is an illegitimate and unsound method of punishment.³ Judge Dorit Beinish, in a majority decision, stated that:

"The child is not his parents' property; he may not serve as a punching bag even if the parent honestly believes that he is implementing his obligation and right to educate his child. The child depends on his parent, needs his love, his protection and his soft touch. Using punishment that causes pain and degradation violates his rights as a human. It violates his body, his feelings, his dignity and his normal course of development."⁴

The Child's Right to Separate Representation in Family Court

The courts have also held that under certain circumstances, where parents are apparently acting according to their own interests, a child is entitled to separate representation. If the child is under 15 years old, the child has a right to appoint a guardian adlitem for the purpose of representing his best interests before the courts. From age 15, he has the right to separate legal representation by a lawyer, who will represent the child's own position and wishes. Thus, the court recognizes the interests and independent rights of children, separate from those of his parents.

The Right to Parental Care

The Supreme Court has also ruled that parents' obligations towards their children are not only financial, but also include the obligation to provide support and parental care. In this case, an absentee parent who ignored his children from a first marriage was held liable for emotional damages incurred by his children.⁵ This was the first such ruling of its kind in Israel and, possibly, the world.

The rights and well-being of children in Israel are also evident from the system of special services geared towards children, particularly in the fields of health, education, and welfare.

Children's Services

Israel maintains a highly developed system of health and medical services for children. All hospitals maintain top-level children's wards, and there are a number of hospitals specializing in pediatrics. The government also runs mother and well-baby clinics (Tipat Halav). These clinics operate in every area of the country as part of the public health services, and provide health services throughout the mother's pregnancy and later, for her baby. The success of this program is evident by the fact that 91% - 96% of all sectors of the population are inoculated.⁶

Additionally, children are entitled to free medical care from birth. The mortality rate of infants in Israel is lower than or equal to that of other developed countries (such as Britain and Australia).⁷ The success of the Israeli health system in decreasing infant and child mortality rates is directly connected to its system of public health services. While a disparity exists between different population sectors in the rate of infant mortality, that rate is relatively low and has been declining consistently over the years.

Israel's diverse educational system is also notable as it provides free public education for children aged 5 to 18. Additionally, each municipality operates its own welfare department, with special child protection units employing social workers specially licensed for child protection.

Important developments have also occurred over the past decade in the treatment of high-risk children, such as the creation of emergency shelters for children at high risk. Notable for their pioneering contribution in caring for child abuse victims are voluntary organizations such as ELI (The Organization for the Protection of the Child) and MEITAL (The Israeli Center for the Treatment of Sexually Abused Children and Youth).

(Photo: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Despite constant threats of terrorist activity, disparities between different sectors of the child population, many children living below the poverty line, budgetary cuts in health, education and welfare services, a rise of violence amongst Israeli youngsters and the difficult situation faced by Palestinian children, children in Israel have witnessed many achievements in the recognition of their rights and protection of their welfare in the short period of Israel's existence.

Israel is a young state still facing existential crises on both the security and economic fronts. Furthermore, it is a multicultural society which continues to absorb immigrants from around the world. All these factors contribute to the difficult challenge of promoting children's rights. While there is still much work that remains in order to meet this challenge and to be deserving of our children, the foundations have been laid and much has been accomplished for Israel's children and their rights.

Dr. Yitzhak Kadman is the Executive Director and Founder of the National Council for the Child; Advocate Vered Windman is the Deputy Legal Counsel of the National Council for the Child.

1. Janusz Korczak (Poland 1878-1942), was known as one of the 20th century's greatest educators and an early advocate of children's rights. The unforgettable image of this great pedagogue marching alongside the children of his orphanage as they were herded onto cattle cars to be carried to their death at the Treblinka death camps is one of the more haunting images of the Holocaust. He refused sanctuary offered to him and insisted on accompanying his young charges to the death camps where he is presumed to have subsequently perished.
2. Aharon Barak, Interpretations of Constitutionality at p. 435 (Volume 3, Nevo Press).
3. Criminal Case 511/95 State of Israel v. Jane Doe, 97 (3) Takdin-District Ct. 1898
4. Id. at section 29 of the verdict.
5. Civil Appeal 2034/98 Amin vs. Amin, 56 Supreme Court (Dinim Elyon) 961.
6. "Children in Israel" (Published by the Council for the Child 2003), Table 8.7
7. Id. at Table 15C.

In Israel, dozens of volunteer organizations deal with various aspects of children's rights. Such organizations are, by nature, more creative, innovative and more flexible in their methods of action, and respond more quickly to changing reality. Many of these provide therapy, health, education and welfare services to children in general, and particularly to ill-treated children. These organizations play a most important and sometimes the only role in protecting children's rights in Israel.

The oldest and largest non-governmental organization in Israel is the National Council for the Child (NCC) which acts on behalf of all children in Israel, without geographic, religious or economic boundaries. The NCC serves as an advocacy organization and provides educational, informational, and legal services in all areas concerning child welfare. The NCC also initiates innovative projects, operates a special center for public education and a research center for the collection and dissemination of information and data, and formulation of policy. Moreover, the NCC
operates a legal center, which concentrates on initiating and promoting legislation regarding children, and provides legal counsel and guidance to children, professionals and lay people. The NCC acts for the improvement of children's status in Israel in general, and particularly for high-risk children, promoting their welfare and protecting their rights.

Among the many innovative and unique programs that the NCC operates is the Ombudsman for Children and Youth, an independent body, among the first of its kind worldwide when established in 1990. It receives approximately ten thousand complaints and requests for assistance annually from the general public, including children. The Ombudsman provides special services for specific populations such as Arab and immigrant children, in their own language.

The State of the Child in Israel Annual Statistical Abstract, published by the Council, contains thousands of statistics and is the most comprehensive publication of its kind. The NCC also operates the Child Victim Assistance Program. Child victims of crimes, particularly violent and sexual offenses, are assisted in coping with the trepidation of dealing with the legal system by a companion who accompanies the child and family through the process.

Children's Rights Mobile Unit is an educational program that uses experiential activities to teach tens of thousands of elementary school children annually about their rights, responsibilities and methods for coping with an infringement of their rights.