Equal Funding for Arab Religious Buildings.

HCJ 1399/00, Ittijah: The Union of Arab Community Based Organizations in Israel, et. al. v. Ministry of Religious

Petition filed in 2/00 against the Minister of Religious Affairs (MORA), the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Housing arguing that the current criteria for granting funds for the religious buildings (e.g., mosques, churches, religious courts) discriminates against the Arab religious communities (Muslim, Christian and Druze). Adalah demanded equitable allocation and distribution of the religious buildings budget.

Result: Order nisi granted. Temporary injunction granted freezing the distribution of over US $30 million from the religious buildings budget, later replaced by a commitment from the Ministry of Finance to allocate these funds to Arab religious communities, should the Court accept Adalah's petition. In 3/01, the MORA committed to divide the religious building budget into three categories: synagogues, mikva'ot (ritual baths), and buildings for Arab religious communities. Adalah agreed to withdraw the petition based on this commitment, with leave to re-file if the 2001 budget law failed to fulfill these commitments. The Court awarded Adalah legal fees of NIS 5,000.

(H.C. 1399/00, Ittijah: The Union of Arab Community Based Organizations in Israel, et. al. v. Ministry of Religious Affairs, et. al.)