The arrangement will only apply to the two permanent employees at CERN and not to the 63 doctoral students receiving research grants from the European Organization for Nuclear Research
The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset today approved for second and third reading the bill that enshrines a treaty in law, a treaty that will allow the State of Israel to join as a full member of the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The government bill seeks to give effect to a law to the protocol that gives the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to its officials, the director general, and the representatives of the following countries to participate in its activities, immunities and privileges to allow them to operate in the country without fear of state interference. CERN is an international particle research organization based in Geneva. The organization operates the particle accelerator Large Hadron Collider, and 20 European countries are members. The State of Israel has had the status of "associate membership" in the organization since 2011.
The bill states that the organization's employees and their spouses, including its employees who are residents of the State of Israel, will enjoy immunity from legal action such as arrest or imprisonment, it will not be possible to search and seize the organization's assets, its employees will be exempt from paying taxes for their wages. The exemption from paying social security fees will apply retroactively two years back.
The Legal Adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adv. Ehud Keenan, said that the anchoring of the treaty is required by law and one cannot be satisfied with the order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order for the organization's employees who are citizens of the State of Israel to benefit from the immunity and additional rights granted to the organization's employees in the treaty. According to Keenan "it is a question of functional immunity for the employee as part of his activity. Today, only 2 Israeli employees work in the organization, in addition to 63 doctoral students who receive research grants from the organization. These will not benefit from the benefits that the law will grant.
The bill was approved for second and third reading and will be put up for a final vote in the Knesset plenum today. After the final approval, the organization's council will meet and accept the State of Israel as a full member of the organization.
