District Court Refuses to Cancel “Security Forces” Condition as Prerequisite for Bidding for Plots of Land in Arab Nazareth

On 24 January 2013, the Nazareth District Court denied a petition filed by Adalah on behalf of the Mayor of Nazareth to cancel a bidding process for building rights to five plots of land in Nazareth that condition eligibility for bidding on the land on an individual having completed service in the “security forces”. In its decision, the court referred to previous Supreme Court decisions in which the court ruled that it did not consider the military service criterion to be an unlawful or discriminatory condition of public land bids or benefits, but rather an acceptable reward that the state has the right to award to those who service in the Israeli security forces. Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara submitted the petition on behalf of the Mayor of Nazareth, Mr. Ramez Jeraisy, and a Nazareth family who are harmed by this condition.

In the petition, which was filed on 12 November 2012, Attorney Bishara emphasized that “the bid privileges certain people at a time when the city is suffering from a severe housing crisis and many families are without homes because of the ILA’s discriminatory land and home policies.”

Attorney Bishara added that, “Making military/security service a basic requirement for access to housing is in conflict with the principle of equal access to public property, especially since the issue has no relation to military or security issues.”

Nazareth Mayor Ramez Jeraisy stated that, “This provision, which was added to the bid, excludes large groups of people and prevents the vast majority of the Arab citizens of Nazareth, including those who need homes, from entering this bid, which is in any case limited to only five plots of land.” He added, “We ask the Israel Land Administration to increase the number of plots allocated for the residents of Nazareth, and for Arab citizens of Israel in general.”

Case citation: Administrative Petition 21030-11-12 Municipality of Nazareth vs. Israel Land Administration