Israel’s Trafficking Victims Underreported by Thousands, Experts Say on Awareness Day
Israel's anti-trafficking unit recognized 100 victims this year, but experts warn that thousands from Ukraine, Russia, and Ethiopia remain at risk
In the modern world, millions of vulnerable people are ruthlessly exploited, coerced into labor, prostitution, or trafficked for their organs. Increasing numbers of people fleeing war and persecution create opportunities for human traffickers.
July 30 marks the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, highlighting the urgent need to protect trafficking victims. Israel is not immune to this global crisis.
Despite efforts to combat human trafficking, a recent US State Department report reveals that Israel does not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating this crime. In 2023, Israel identified 101 trafficking victims, including 73 who were subject to sex trafficking and 67 who were foreign, coming from countries like Ukraine, Russia, and Brazil. Amid escalating multi-front conflicts, Israel’s fight against human trafficking has unfortunately become a lower priority.
Noa Rodman, anti-trafficking coordinator at the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution, explained the complexities of trafficking in Israel to The Media Line. “Sex trafficking involves the exploitation of vulnerable people, mostly women, within the country, while labor trafficking involves bringing people into the country to be exploited in various forms of labor.”
“Israel is seen more as a target country for trafficking into the country and less as a country whose people are exploited and victims of trafficking into other countries,” Rodman elaborated. “Developed countries are more worried about the trafficking into their industries, both legitimate industries and the sex industry.”
Statistics on trafficking are challenging to pinpoint. “We can’t say how many of these people are effectively victims of trafficking. Nobody knows the numbers, and the Israeli government doesn’t do anything proactively to screen these populations,” Rodman explained.
We know that in times of war, people’s situations get worse, but now, maybe trafficking into Israel has decreased because it’s a war zone. When the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, we recognized more trafficking to Israel. But now it’s not such a nice place to come, so I’m not sure the traffic to Israel is more than usual.
Naama Goldberg, CEO of the Lomondot Mineged organization, Hebrew for “Not Standing By Idly,” emphasized the difficulty of measuring the war’s influence on human trafficking. “We know that in times of war, people’s situations get worse, but now, maybe trafficking into Israel has decreased because it’s a war zone. When the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, we recognized more trafficking to Israel. But now it’s not such a nice place to come, so I’m not sure the traffic to Israel is more than usual,” she said.
“We know the approximate number of people who are vulnerable, but we can’t say how many of them are victims,” Rodman added. “For example, there are approximately 15,000 Ukrainian citizens that have remained in Israel. These are people who were already displaced by war once, and some were displaced by war a second time, having to leave the cities they lived in here in Israel. That’s an extremely vulnerable population.”
Rodman highlighted the impact of global conflicts on trafficking. “The main effects we’re seeing right now are due to the current war in Israel, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the war in Ethiopia,” she said. “We’re seeing trafficking into the country from those conflict zones and from other countries, including the Palestinian territory, to exploit women in the sex industry.”
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
“It’s a very big issue in Israel that people who are not Jewish and arrive in the country in secret don’t receive refugee status, don’t have access to their basic needs, and can’t get employment,” she told The Media Line. “Therefore, they’re very vulnerable and ready to be exploited by traffickers.”
According to Rodman, there were 100 victims recognized officially by the Israeli anti-trafficking unit this year. “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’re talking about tens of thousands of people here from Ukraine, Russia, Ethiopia, other African countries, and the Palestinian territories,” she said.
Rodman emphasized the dire situation many of these people live in. “Many of them face extreme danger due to sexual orientation, sexual exploitation, or sexual assault they went through,” she explained. “Some women we were in contact with even threatened suicide due to the extreme stress, especially in the first few months of the war.”
Rodman noted the lack of screening for vulnerable populations. “If we’re not being active in screening these populations, then we’ll never know how many of them are victims. We do know from our information on the ground, and part of what we do as a task force on human trafficking and prostitution, is we’ve had a coalition of 20 organizations that do aid and rehabilitation work with people in prostitution.”
“Palestinian women, once we started bringing in Arabic-speaking staff into some of the rehabilitation organizations, began referring to each other by word of mouth, and then there’s more and more,” Rodman shared. “The same happened with women who fled the war in Ethiopia, mostly trafficked through Jordan and into the Palestinian territory, then escaped into Israel.”
Goldberg also highlighted the plight of Palestinian women. “We help Palestinian women in Israel who escape from the Palestinian Authority, and here they are afraid to go out because they feel unsafe. It’s a real example of how marginalized societies suffer more in times of war.”
“Our organization provides food and basic needs for everyone, regardless of age, religion, civil status, or sexual orientation,” Goldberg stated. “If we meet someone who needs help, we give them money, food, medicine, and assist with the procedure to get recognized as a refugee.”
Rodman highlighted Israel’s proactive measures in addressing human trafficking, such as implementing various programs and shelters to meet the needs of victims and prevent trafficking into the country. Despite these efforts, she noted recent setbacks, which are evident in the report rankings over the past two years.
She referred to the US State Department’s annual human-traffic reports, which evaluate countries’ efforts to combat the issue. For almost a decade, Israel was ranked in Tier 1, reflecting its strong commitment and effective measures against human trafficking. However, in recent years, Israel has been downgraded to Tier 2 due to insufficient actions to stop trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable survivors within the country.
She said, “There’s no process right now for recognizing people coming in and going out of the border.”
Israel is not proactive on detection. They rely on NGOs to do all the detection work, which is a huge, huge issue. We also don’t have a national hotline, so there’s no one clear place for people who are experiencing this kind of exploitation to turn to, which is another big gap in our system.
“Israel is not proactive on detection. They rely on NGOs to do all the detection work, which is a huge, huge issue,” she told The Media Line. “We also don’t have a national hotline, so there’s no one clear place for people who are experiencing this kind of exploitation to turn to, which is another big gap in our system.”
Part of the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution organization’s work includes lobbying for the adoption of a Nordic model law in Israel, explained Moria Rodal Silfen, CEO of the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution.
Moria Rodal Silfen (Courtesy)
“We promoted the adoption of a Nordic model law to make the consumption of prostitution illegal, hoping to reduce demand and consequently sex trafficking,” she said. “It’s only been four years since the law passed, and in that time, the enforcement of it has not been high enough.”
Silfen emphasized the importance of making this law permanent. “If the law doesn’t become permanent in a year, we know prostitution and trafficking will increase and flourish,” she warned. “We’ve worked hard to make this law pass, and now it’s a temporary law set to expire unless made permanent.”
The task force collaborates closely with various governmental and non-governmental organizations. “We work with the National Anti-Trafficking Unit under the Ministry of Justice and the Police Anti-Trafficking Unit,” she said. “The police unit is very understaffed and lacks the clout to get what they need done.”
Naama Goldberg also highlighted the collaborative efforts of her organization with the Ministry of Justice. “We are collaborating with the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Trafficking,” she shared.
Goldberg described the support system at the airport. “We have a social worker at the airport. They call her if there is a suspicious human trafficking case, and she comes to meet the women, read them their rights, and try to stop their trauma. They suggest they testify against the pimps or get into an asylum.”
Silfen concluded with a call for more enforcement and policy change. “We keep calling for more enforcement to ensure the law makes the necessary changes. It’s crucial to improve access to services for victims and to continue the fight against trafficking in Israel.”
“There is a strict bond between the law and trafficking, and we must put all our effort into ensuring that the Nordic model law becomes permanent in Israel by July 25; otherwise, trafficking will flourish,” emphasized Silfen.
