Court says details on taxation of natural resource exploitation must be made public

The Jerusalem District Court partially accepts a Freedom of Information petition calling for details about payments to a sovereign wealth fund to be made public.

The petition was submitted by the environmental advocacy organization Adam Teva V’Din after the Tax Authority refused to disclose which companies have paid and which have not into a sovereign wealth fund established to ensure that the public benefits properly from the exploitation of the country’s natural resources, among them natural gas and minerals.

Judge Eli Abarbanel rejects the government’s position that it is not responsible for weighing the rights to secrecy of companies with the public’s right to know.

He finds that the tax authority official who is responsible for freedom of information requests failed to strike a balance between the two interests and consulted neither the head of the authority nor the Finance Minister on what to do.

He rules that this “defect” is sufficient to justify partial acceptance of the petition and instructs the tax authority to review its response to Adam Teva V’Din’s request, “while balancing the right interests.”