More than 300,000 Corona fines were imposed on Israelis - almost 80% have not paid them so far

Anger over the conduct of the government during the Corona period is also reflected in the willingness of citizens to pay reports given for violations of the isolation, social distance and closure regulations: Data from the Enforcement and Collection Authority show that almost 80% of citizens who have received reports have not paid them so far. According to the data, about 306,000 Corona reports in the cumulative amount of about NIS 170 million were received by the Enforcement Authority by mid-October, but only about 65,000 of them, in the cumulative amount of about NIS 27 million, have been paid so far. The recipient of the report has 90 days from the moment it is received until the last date for payment, and the Authority estimates that the number of unpaid reports whose payment date has expired is around 80,000.
"These are not simple and worrying figures," says collection center director Doron Infrastructure. Reports whose payment date has passed have begun to accrue arrears interest and fines, and Infrastructure says that collection proceedings are initiated quickly and in some cases collection has already been made.

More than 300,000 fines, with a total value of NIS 170 million, were imposed by the Israeli police on civilians for various violations of corona laws and regulations. So far, only about NIS 30 million has been paid, for 70,000 fines.
The high number of fines and the burden imposed on citizens during a deep economic crisis raises the question of whether fines do achieve their purpose - deterring the public from violating regulations, and preventing the infection and spread of the corona virus. While the purpose of the laws and fines imposed for non-compliance is to maintain physical distance and reduce infection with the virus, the data show that there is not necessarily a match between the number of fines imposed by the police in different cities and the number of patients in each city.
The data, which detailed the number of corona fines by city, was provided by the Enforcement and Collection Authority - the body that collects the fines imposed by the Israel Ministry - following the Freedom of Information request submitted by Adv. October, the city with the highest number of fines was Jerusalem - 52,000 fines, followed immediately by Tel Aviv with 14,000 fines, Haifa with 5,500 fines, Netanya with 4,326 fines, and Petah Tikva with 3,762 fines.
Apart from Jerusalem, which stars both at the top of the fines table and at the top of the infected table, there is not necessarily a fit between a high number of fines and cities that are the focus of an outbreak. For example, in Bnei Brak, which ranks second in the morbidity index with 17,127 patients in Corona, only 2,578 fines were imposed; While in Tel Aviv, where there are only 829 patients, 14,118 fines were distributed. However, it is possible that the high number of fines in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is biased due to the increased fine policy adopted by the police in demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Other cities in which there was no match between the morbidity and the fines are Ashdod, with 763 patients and 2,829 fines; Beit Shemesh with 440 patients and 2,595 fines; And the ultra-Orthodox city of Modi'in Illit, which has 725 patients and a fairly low number of fines - 522.
The problem is particularly noticeable in cities where the number of patients is much smaller compared to other cities, but the number of fines in them has not decreased accordingly. For example, in Haifa there are 272 patients but the number of fines imposed there is 5,461; Lod has 134 patients and 4,022 fines have been imposed; In Rishon Lezion 256 patients and 3,652 fines were imposed on it; And in Ramla 250 patients and 3,649 fines. A particularly extreme case is that of the Bedouin city of Rahat - where the police imposed 2,987 fines even though the city has only 96 patients.