Adalah Demands Fair Representation for Arab Citizens on Municipal Merger Committees

Yesterday, 5 May 2003, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel on behalf of the National Committee of Arab Mayors and in its own name against the Minister of Interior, Avraham Poraz. The petitioners demanded fair representation for Arab citizens of Israel on regional hearing committees, which have been appointed to consider public responses to the government's proposed municipal merger legislation.

At the same time, the petitioners also submitted a motion for an immediate injunction demanding that the work of the regional hearing committees be frozen, or that hearings related to the merger of Arab municipalities be halted, until the Court issues a decision on the petition. The petition and the motion for injunction were submitted by Adalah Staff Attorney Suhad Bishara.

The Knesset passed the municipal merger legislation on its first reading on 30 April 2003. The legislation, which is part of the government's new economic plan, proposes to merge a number of villages and towns throughout the country, reducing them into 62 new municipalities. The merger plan was conceived by the government, without public participation or consultation with local municipalities.

In the petition, Adalah strongly objected to the fact that although 23 of the 62 merged municipalities (37%) are Arab, there is only one Arab citizen out of a total of 37 members on the regional hearing committees appointed to consider public responses to the merger proposal. As the proposed merger legislation has broad implications for the residents of the affected Arab towns and villages in Israel, Adalah argued, Arab citizens of the state must be fairly represented on the regional hearing committees.

Adalah also emphasized that Arab towns and villages have very limited access to or involvement in the decision-making processes of governmental bodies at the national level, making control over local government extremely important. Included with the petition is an expert opinion in support of these arguments, by urban planner and Ben Gurion University lecturer Dr. Yosef Jabareen.

Failing to provide fair representation for Arab citizens on the seven regional hearing committees will violate the principle of equality. Further, the committees, as they are currently constituted, will not be able to give suitable consideration to issues which impact on the unique needs and concerns of Arab towns and villages.

Several Israeli laws and Supreme Court judgments maintain that the government has a duty to guarantee the fair representation of different groups, such as women and Arab citizens of the state, in public institutions. The need for such representation is also based on widely recognized principles of community participation, transparency, public trust, and equality.

No date has been set by the Supreme Court for hearings on the motion for injunction or the petition.

H.C. 4110/03, Adalah and the National Committee of Arab Mayors v. the Minister of Interior.