Supreme Court Grants Adalah's Request to Freeze 125 Million NIS, the Entire Religious Buildings Budget for 2000

On 24 February 2000, the Supreme Court of Israel issued an order nisi in Adalah's case against the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Interior concerning the religious buildings budget for 2000. The decision compels the respondents to reply to the legal argument raised by Adalah's petition within 45 days. The Court also issued an injunction immediately freezing the distribution of funds from the religious buildings budget (125 Milion NIS / $30 Million) until 15 March 2000, as requested by Adalah. 

The petition, filed to the Supreme Court on 21 February 2000 in the name of Adalah and Ittjah, an umbrella organization for Palestinian Arab NGOs in Israel, argues that the current criteria for granting funds from the religious buildings budget discriminate against the Arab Muslim, Christian and Druze communities. The religious buildings budget provides funding for the establishment, preservation and renovation of religious buildings throughout the country. Adalah cites the fact that under the current criteria only 2.5% of the religious buildings budget for 2000 is earmarked for the Muslim, Christian and Druze communities in the state, despite the fact that these groups account for nearly 20% of Israel's total population. 

Adalah demands that the Ministry of Religious Affairs immediately set universal, non-discriminatory criteria for the allocation of funds from the religious buildings budget, and points out that the current criteria completely disregard the state comptroller's recommendations that funding for religious buildings should be distributed equally. In addition, Adalah cites numerous examples of the needs of the Palestinian Arab religious communities in the state, pointing out, for instance, that many of Israel's 350 mosques have deteriorated in recent years as a result of a lack of funding. Moreover, Adalah emphaszed that the current practices followed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs infringe upon the right of the Muslim, Christian and Druze communities to worship and practice their religions freely.