The National Health Council is a body that advises the Minister of Health on very important issues, including: rates of health insurance premiums and insured payments; promoting equitable quality, availability, and accessibility of health services; prioritizing the utilization of resources in the field of health; and more. The council includes 46 members—none of whom belong to the Arab community.
We appealed to the Minister of Health on our behalf and on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights, the Citizens’ Forum for the Promotion of Health in the Galilee, and the Coalition of Health Organizations in the Negev, demanding that he appoint members of the Arab community to the Health Council such that they make up at least 20% of its members. In the appeal, Attorney Gadeer Nicola, Director of ACRI’s Arab Minority Rights Unit, emphasized the state's obligation to ensure adequate representation of the Arab community among public bodies. The appeal also notes that the absence of Arab members in the Council is a particularly grave failing in the backdrop of the significant gaps in the quality of health between different population groups, specifically Jews and Arabs, along with the scope, quality, and availability of medical services between Arab and Jewish communities.