Is there a law?

Those who thoroughly read through the 89 pages of the Levy Committee Report will find it extremely difficult to comprehend that, absurdly, the only place in the free world where racial discrimination takes place in regard to land, is actually in Judea and Samaria.

In not one of the revised countries of the world are there discriminatory laws and rules in practice that discriminate against Jews who wish to acquire land or build on it. There are a multitude of orders and directives aimed at preventing Jews from building, owning land and cultivating and developing communities in Judea and Samaria.

The Legal Advisers of the Civil Administration are a link in the chain which begins with the Attorney General.

When issues arise regarding land disputes there is clear discrimination against one side of the conflict, and this is the Jewish side.

The Levy Committee masterfully describes how the government, through the Civil Administration and its Legal Advisers, are depriving the Jewish residents of their property rights. The public’s right to knowledge and its ability to review the Civil Administration’s databases, which contain information on rights to the land in Judea and Samaria, no longer exist.

The Levy Committee also describes how, through criminal negligence, the land survey of Judea and Samaria has been delayed, all the while assisting the Arabs to claim rights over land they have no connection with.

In many chapters of the report the committee protests that it is the Civil Administration – and not Judiciary – which rules in land conflicts, without holding any form of debate, and is only based on claims and documents with which they are presented. As in unenlightened countries, there is no way to appeal these decisions.

WHEN POST-Zionist organizations and Arabs appeal to the Supreme Court, the judges base their rulings on government statements – which are themselves based on investigations carried out by the army.

The greatest significance of the Levy Committee Report, filed last week, is in the understanding that the State of Israel – on behalf of Israeli and international law – is discriminating in an extraordinary way against Jews and Israelis. This is in contrast to the claims made by post-Zionist organizations that there is discrimination against Arabs.

Col. Almoz, head of the Civil Administration, at his appearance before the committee was quoted as saying that even when it seems to him that the disputed land belongs to Jews, legal advisers force him to remove the Jewish residents due to claims made by Arabs.

The reports conclusions have opened a small window of hope, and the biggest question is how the government will decide to operate. Will they be able to withstand the pressure put upon them by the post-Zionist organizations? The Levy Committee reminded us all that these areas are not “occupied territories” but are part of the historic land of Israel that were destined to be an integral part of the Jewish state, in accordance with the decision made by the League of Nations which was unanimously approved the San Remo Conference.

These areas were occupied illegally by Jordan in the War of Independence, who was holding them as an occupier up until the State of Israel released them in 1967.

Those who claim that the state considers these areas as “occupied territory,” cannot ignore the fact that the State of Israel has established cities and numerous towns – according to state laws and with the approval of the Supreme Court and in fact – 400,000 citizens reside there lawfully, and most Israeli law applies to them.

In the Supreme Court appeal filed by the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel during the disengagement it was decided, amongst other things, that the Basic Law of Human Dignity and Liberty applies to all Israeli citizens, residents of Judea and Samaria, as well as any other Israeli citizens.

The government needs to make the required corrections in the law now, both in the Supreme Court and in the Knesset, to deal with the shortcomings which have been revealed in this report. We cannot accept either the significant infringement to human rights or discrimination against Jewish people which now exists in the sphere of planning and building in Judea and Samaria.

The writer is the director general of the Legal Forum for the land of Israel.