That a transitional government has been running Israel for a year has led to paralysis in the delivery of some government services. Government officials are supposed, among other things, to implement decisions that have been approved and budgeted. Those people most harmed by the current state of affairs are the weakest, who hardly have anyone fighting for them. The Knesset, which is supposed to supervise the work of the government and to debate in the plenary and in committees, is not functional either. The failure to implement a government program to “rehabilitate” sex workers and to reduce procurement of sex services attests to the damage caused to the citizenry as a result of Israel's political stalemate.

In August, Haaretz found that the Welfare Ministry has not been using some NIS 21 million ($6 million) disbursed to it by the Finance Ministry to implement a program stemming from a law penalizing the procurement of sex services. Aliza Lavi (Yesh Atid) and Shuly Moalem-Refaeli (formerly of Habayit HaYehudi and now the New Right) had submitted the relevant bill, which was brought before the Knesset in December 2018. The law, which the government supported, will go into force in July 2020, making it a civil misdemeanor to use prostitution services or be in a place used for prostitution, such as a brothel, with the aim of procuring sex. Violations carry a fine of up to 75,000 NIS ($21,000) in extreme cases.

In January, the government also authorized NIS 90 million ($26 million) for a three-year program to help sex workers leave the business and to provide them treatment. The government cited economic, psychological and social crises as reasons for people turning to sex work, noting that these conditions also make it difficult to leave that line of work once in it. In short, people working as prostitutes, mostly women, find themselves in a “trap” perpetuated by distress and crisis.

The NIS 21 million allocated to the Welfare Ministry was in addition to the NIS 25 million ($7 million) the ministry receives every year to address the issue of prostitution. The money has not, however, been used, and according to Israeli law, the funds should therefore be returned to the Finance Ministry at the end of the fiscal year. On Dec. 8, the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution took on the Welfare and Finance Ministries by petitioning the High Court in an attempt to have the unused funds remain in the coffers of the Welfare Ministry so they can be used for their intended purpose.