Government Website to Add Arabic Translations After NIF Grantees Protest

January 13, 2008

The Israeli government is asking for proposals for the translation of its websites into Arabic. The government decision came after two veteran NIF grantees, IRAC and Mossawa Center protested that only 110 of the 8,258 screen pages on the government's Internet sites, a little over 1%, have been translated into Arabic.

The government ministry sites at www.gov.il contain an extremely wide range of information from government contracts and job vacancies to services relating to driving licenses, tax payments as well as a guide to lodging complaints about violation of rights.

Rajya Abu Akel, Mossawa's Legal Advisor said. "The official status of the Arabic language is enshrined in Israeli law and it is mandatory for authorities to issue all their publications in Arabic. Denying access to information because of language prevents Israel's Arab citizens from realizing their rights."

Einat Hurvitz, IRAC's Legal Advisor observed. "One would expect that the State would offer equal access to information for all its citizens."

In response Yoram Ariav, Director-General of the Finance Ministry, said that the government gave the highest priority to improving its services. "We intend enabling the State's Arab citizens broad and easy access to government Internet sites in their mother tongue," he pledged.