Israeli tech companies and financial institutions are joining an effort launched by the Israel Discount Bank to make a clear statement against discrimination, amid growing fears that the incoming coalition government will implement changes to allow the use of discriminatory practices.
Israel Discount Bank announced Sunday that its board accepted a recommendation from the bank’s management to update its credit policy to reflect that the bank will not extend credit to any business or organization that behaves in a discriminatory manner or discriminates against customers. or religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.
“We found it appropriate to amend the bank’s credit policy so that what had been obvious would now become official,” said Shaul Kobrinsky, chairman of Israel Discount Bank. credit.”
“This is our commitment and responsibility as an important business entity in the Israeli economy,” Kobrinski added.
The Discount Bank statement came in response to an apparent alliance agreement between religious Zionists and Likud that included a clause that the incoming government would seek to amend discrimination laws to allow business owners to refuse offers that violated their religion. Service of Faith. The deal has yet to be formally signed.
Meanwhile, incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that his coalition would allow such a law to pass.
Wiz’s office in Tel Aviv. (polite)
Current law prohibits those providing public services or products from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and other similar considerations, and anyone who does so will be fined.
Speech that encourages racism and discrimination of any kind has no place in a civilized society, Michal Braverman-Blumenstick, vice president of tech giant Microsoft, has warned.
“Microsoft is a diverse home where racism does not enter,” Braverman-Blumenstyk wrote in a statement on her LinkedIn page. “The reason for the company’s success is diversity: I walk the corridors of Microsoft every day and see great employees—Jewish, Arab, ultra-Orthodox, secular, LGBT, women, and men—in brotherhood Camaraderie, professionalism, a fundamental background against equality.”
“Israel is a democratic and moral country that must remain the same,” declared Braverman-Blumenstyk, who is also general manager of Microsoft’s Israel Research and Development Center.
Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz announced Monday that any company wanting to do business with the startup will need to comply with its non-discrimination policy.
Discrimination against someone for any reason (including race, religion, nationality, country of origin, gender, sexual orientation, opinion, partisanship, age or personal status) will be grounds for Wiz to terminate any business relationship with the contracting company, Entrepreneurship the company said.
“The recent calls heard in the Israeli political scene for the removal of fundamental rights are of serious concern to our society,” Wiz said. “We have an obligation to do everything we can to prevent discrimination of any kind.”
The statement from the Israeli business community came just a day after religious Zionist MK Orit Strock, who will become a cabinet minister in the new government, said doctors should be allowed to refuse treatment that was contrary to their religious beliefs, sparking an outcry. Faith, as long as there is another doctor willing to provide the same treatment.
On Sunday, Strock was backed by religious Zionist MK Simcha Rothman, who made similar comments, claiming that if a hotel wants to refuse service to gay people on religious grounds, it has the right this way.
Last week, more than a hundred senior Israeli business executives and fund managers joined a call launched earlier this month to warn Netanyahu that policies desired by his coalition are threatening Israel’s image as a stable democracy , and could hurt the industry by driving away important foreign investment.
The Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
