Adalah opposes bill designed to promote de facto annexation of West Bank lands

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel submitted on 28 October 2018 a letter to the Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation and to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit demanding that they reject the proposed “Law for the Abolition of Discrimination in the Purchase of Land in Judea and Samaria (Repeal of the Jordanian Law), 5778-2018” and the “Law for the Abolition of Discrimination in the Purchase of Land in Judea and Samaria (Right to Purchase Property), 5778 – 2018”.

These bills seek to anchor an amendment to local law in the West Bank in primary legislation in a manner that will enable the acquisition of land rights by Israelis. 

Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara maintains in the letter that “such legislation would constitute a gross and blatant violation of the principles of international human rights law applicable to the occupied West Bank”.

The purpose behind the proposed laws is the annexation of parts of the West Bank under the cloak of individual rights by means of creating "market conditions" that will enable the transfer of land rights to the population of the occupying power, thereby serving its illegitimate political interests and enabling and facilitating the further expansion of the illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied territories.

The implementation of this purpose through the amendment of local law is absolutely prohibited under international law. This legislation contradicts the substance of Article 43 of the Hague Convention, according to which any changes must be made for the benefit of the protected population, which is the only population that may benefit from land resources during the time of occupation. 

In addition, the Hague Convention (particularly Article 55) requires the occupying power to treat the land resources solely as a trustee acting for the benefit of the civilian population. Moreover, according to these regulations, the military commander is explicitly prohibited from turning his country and the citizens of his country into beneficiaries of public property.

In light of all this, Adalah calls on the Ministerial Committee to reject the proposed bills and to act to prevent the advancement of this legislation.

The Ministerial Committee debate on the annulment of the Jordanian law was slated for Sunday, 4 November 2018.