*** Update from 18/11/24: The Ministerial Committee decided to postpone the discussion of the bill to the last week of January. ***
On Sunday, November 17, 2024, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss the proposed law by MK Moshe Solomon (from the Religious Zionism Party) which would allow settlers to purchase land directly from Palestinians in the West Bank. Currently, Israelis are not allowed to purchase land in the West Bank directly, but only through companies registered in the Civil Administration’s company registry, and only after receiving a transaction permit from the Civil Administration.
The bill, titled “Elimination of the Discrimination in the Purchase of Real Estate in Judea and Samaria” which was previously proposed by MK Bezalel Smotrich, seeks to make it easier for settlers to purchase properties and land across almost the entire West Bank without supervision or restrictions, opening the door to questionable deals and forgeries.
Peace Now: This is yet another annexation move initiated by the messianic right. The proposal seeks to allow settlers to purchase land without any oversight throughout the West Bank, effectively making them “landlords” in the West Bank in both symbolic and practical terms. The bill would give a small number of extremist settlers the ability to acquire land and later establish settlements, whether in the heart of Hebron or anywhere else and drag the IDF to risk soldiers’ lives and protect them. Furthermore, the Knesset has no authority to legislate laws for areas that are not under Israeli sovereignty, and the attempt to apply Knesset laws to the occupied territory constitutes annexation and a blatant violation of international law.
Key Implications of the Proposed Law:
1. Annexation: Legislation by the Knesset, elected by Israelis only, for a territory outside Israeli sovereignty, where its inhabitants do not have the right to vote.
2. Privatization of Israel’s security and political policies into the hands of a small number of settlers who would purchase land from Palestinians without government approval, deepening the security burden on the IDF.
3. Opening the door to questionable transactions and forgeries.
4. Making settlers “landlords” of the occupied territories in both symbolic and practical terms.
5. Blatant violation of international law.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation meets weekly to determine the government’s position on bills expected to be discussed in the Knesset that week. Usually, if the government supports a bill, coalition members will support it in the Knesset as well, and it is highly likely to pass. MK Solomon’s bill will be brought to the Knesset for its preliminary reading, which is the first stage for private member bills. Afterward, it will need to pass first, second, and third readings.
Background: The Process of Land Acquisition in the Occupied Territories
When Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, Jordanian law was applied. Since the West Bank is an occupied territory, the laws that existed at the time of occupation continue to apply, and the occupying power is prohibited from changing them. One of the Jordanian laws in effect in the West Bank stipulates that only local residents can purchase land in the area. To bypass this law, the military commander issued an order in 1971 allowing Israelis to indirectly purchase land in the Territories by establishing companies registered with the Civil Administration in the West Bank. This way, Israelis could own companies that own assets in the West Bank. These companies are required, by law, to obtain a “transaction permit” from the Civil Administration before any purchase.
The transaction permit is supposed to be an important step in the purchasing process to prevent forgeries and block settler real estate initiatives that contradict government policy. Land purchases by Israelis in the West Bank are a dubious business. In the context of a national land conflict, selling land to the enemy is considered treason, and the Palestinian Authority has a law prohibiting the sale of land to Israelis, with the penalty being death. Therefore, almost all land transactions are conducted in secrecy, exploiting the weaknesses of the seller, and often involve forgery and fraud. At the permit stage, the land registrar conducts a thorough review of the documents and the status of the land to ensure there is no concern of forgery. Additionally, every permit requires the approval of the Defense Minister to prevent a situation where settlers dictate Israel’s settlement and security policies by purchasing properties in sensitive locations.
The proposed law would allow Israelis to purchase land directly and be registered as owners. They would not need a transaction permit from the Civil Administration, as is required today, but would only need a “transaction license,” which is a nearly automatic bureaucratic process needed before registering a transaction.
The Implications of the Proposed Law:
1. Annexation: The Knesset seeks to legislate an Israeli law that would apply to territories outside Israeli sovereignty – i.e., apply Israeli law to the Occupied Territories. This is annexation. It’s important to note that the Knesset is the legislative body elected by Israeli citizens, while the Palestinians in the West Bank are not citizens and cannot vote or influence the makeup of the Knesset. This is a law enacted by a population with rights, imposed on a population without rights.
The first section of the proposed law, which abolishes Jordanian law, is worded so that it would require the military commander to issue an order to annul Jordanian law. In this part, there is no direct application of Knesset law to a geographic area outside of Israel. However, the second section of the bill, which states “any person is permitted to acquire rights to real estate in the Judea and Samaria area,” is worded in a way that applies the law to geographic territory, meaning this is annexation.
2. Privatization of Israeli security and political policy: The bill would give a small group of settlers the ability to purchase land from Palestinians without government approval, deepening the security burden on the IDF. Abolishing the need for a transaction permit also eliminates the Defense Minister’s approval of the permit. The law would limit the involvement of the political leadership in determining Israel’s security and political policies and allow settlers to establish facts on the ground that would force the IDF to protect new settlements.
3. Opening the door to questionable transactions and forgeries: Without the comprehensive checks carried out during the transaction permit stage, settlers would be able to more easily take control of land with dubious purchase claims, with no one to stop them. It’s worth noting that with the transfer of the transaction permit authority from the head of the Civil Administration to Hillel Roth, the “Civilian Deputy” appointed by Minister Smotrich, reports have already surfaced of relaxed checks and approval processes for transaction permits.
4. Making settlers “landlords” in the occupied territories: Under the proposed law, Israeli settlers would be able to own land in areas that are not part of the State of Israel.
5. Blatant violation of international law: The Hague Convention prohibits the occupying power from making changes to existing laws in the occupied area, except in two cases: one, where changes are required for clear military security needs; and two, where the change is needed to address the civilian needs of the protected local population. The change proposed by the bill has no relevance to Palestinian needs and is not a security necessity, so it is a violation of international law.
The Scope of Land Acquisitions
Since land acquisition in the West Bank is a sensitive issue and is treated by the authorities as confidential, it is difficult to estimate the full extent of the phenomenon. Peace Now has only estimates, based on partial information and rough data. According to Peace Now, at least 65,000 dunams were purchased from Palestinians by Heimanuta, a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), mostly at the state’s request or in full coordination with it. Additionally, about 10,000 dunams were purchased by Israelis and received a transaction permit, and tens of thousands of dunams are claimed by settlers as having been purchased with varying levels of proof and at different stages of approval. It is important to note that this does not necessarily mean that these purchases are genuine or represent mutual consent between individuals for transactions on a specific plot of land, but rather that Israelis claim to have purchased the land.
It should be noted that in the past, the state helped Israeli land buyers conceal their transactions and prevent Palestinians from objecting by using a circular transaction method: the Israeli land dealer would present a claim of purchasing specific land, the Custodian for Government’s Property would declare it as “state land” to hide the purchase, and then allocate the land to the dealer. This method was stopped following intervention by the legal advisor years ago.
Currently, in the West Bank, there are a few settlements built on private land that Israeli dealers succeeded in obtaining purchase approval for, mainly in the Qalqilya area and western West Bank, and made significant profits from it. Some of the settlements that involve private initiatives include: Revava, Modi’in Illit, Tsofim, Etz Efraim, Sha’arei Tikvah, Oranit, Alfei Menashe, Elkana, Giv’at Ze’ev, Hashmonaim, Matityahu, and Kfar Ha’oranim. See Akevot Institute on “purchases” in the 1980’s.
Even today, there are Israeli dealers trying to purchase land and initiate construction to generate profits in the West Bank. Sometimes, this involves plots adjacent to existing settlements for expansion purposes (like in Giva’t Ze’ev and Ariel), and sometimes in attempts to establish new settlements like “Mishmar Yehuda” and the settlement “Dorot Illit.”