Israel’s Finance Ministry has submitted a request to the Knesset Finance Committee to transfer a total of 36.3 million shekels to advance land registration in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Finance Committee is expected to convene a special meeting to approve the transfer, along with additional budget transfers requested by the government. A date for the committee meeting has not yet been set.
Land registration in the West Bank is a clear step toward annexation. It is intended to enable Israel to complete its takeover of most of the land in Area C and dispossess Palestinians of their land. The government is effectively seeking to complete the institutional framework, apparently in order to begin the land-registration process before the election, or at least before the next government is formed.
Peace Now: The government is using the election period to push through measures that would create far-reaching and destructive facts on the ground. Land registration in the West Bank would amount to full annexation and a massive land grab from Palestinians. Registering the land would transfer ownership of the vast majority of Area C to Israel, while Palestinians would in practice have no ability to exercise their property rights. It is no coincidence that international law prohibits land registration in occupied territory, and that Israel itself issued an order suspending such procedures after 1967.
36.3 Million Shekels to Complete Preparations for Land Registration
The Finance Ministry has submitted to the Knesset Finance Committee a series of requests to make changes to the state budget that require the committee’s approval. Two of the requests concern advancing land-registration procedures in the West Bank and implementing the government decision on the matter from February of this year.
10.4 million shekels for the Justice Ministry is intended “to strengthen the operating budget of the Land Registration Unit” in order to implement government decisions on land registration in Area C and East Jerusalem. The funding earmarked for registration in East Jerusalem — estimated at about 1 million shekels in accordance with the government decision on the matter — is intended, according to the Finance Ministry’s budget request, to “complete the registration of approximately 50% of East Jerusalem and begin registration procedures for an additional approximately 20%.” The remainder of the funding, about 9.4 million shekels, is intended for “completion of preparations for beginning registration procedures in Area C, including logistical and human-resources preparations.”
25.9 million shekels and five staff positions for the Survey of Israel are intended to implement government decisions concerning land registration in Area C and East Jerusalem. The Survey of Israel is a unit of Israel’s Housing Ministry responsible, among other things, for mapping and measuring land in Israel and for parceling land for registration purposes. According to the budget request, the funding is intended “to develop and adapt information systems that will support land registration, including the development of a geographic information system (GIS) portal and improving integration with the Justice Ministry’s registration systems.” Of the total, 25.3 million shekels are earmarked for land registration in the West Bank, and 600,000 shekels for registration in East Jerusalem.
The budget requests do not make clear when the government could begin the registration process in the West Bank, or whether it will be able to do so before the election. But the transfer of the funds indicates an effort to advance the issue with urgency.
It should be noted that in East Jerusalem, the government began land-registration procedures in 2018. It has since emerged that only 1 percent of the land that has been registered was registered in the names of Palestinian owners. See a study by Bimkom on the subject.
What Land Registration in the West Bank Would Mean
1. Applying Sovereignty (Annexation)
Land registration is a process in which authorities conduct a comprehensive examination of land ownership and register ownership of each parcel in the land registry. Due to its irreversible nature, pursuing it serves as an indirect tool for asserting sovereignty, and therefore it is prohibited under international law.
Because of that, shortly after the occupation of the West Bank, the military commander issued an order freezing the land registration proceedings (Order Suspending Settlement Proceedings No. 291 Judea and Samaria 5728-1968).
2. Dispossession of Palestinians From Their Land
Under the conditions in which registration would be carried out, it would effectively amount to a massive land grab that would strip Palestinians of their rights to nearly all of the land in Area C. The occupying power is not a neutral party adjudicating competing ownership claims, and under occupation, a registration process cannot be conducted freely. Palestinians do not have access to information and documents that could prove their rights, while hundreds of thousands of “absentees” — Palestinians who have left the West Bank over the years — would be unable to participate in the registration process even though they own substantial amounts of land.
Moreover, since 1967, the State of Israel has applied a draconian interpretation of the Ottoman Land Code and has declared nearly 1 million dunams of West Bank land to be “state land.” Under Israel’s interpretation, land in the territories is presumed to be state land unless private owners can prove that it is privately owned. The burden of proof placed on them is extremely high and includes documents dating from the Ottoman, British and Jordanian periods; inheritance records and documentation tracing the entire chain of ownership; survey maps; and legal opinions accompanying and interpreting all of these documents, among other requirements. As noted above, most of these documents are not in the possession of Palestinians.
In addition, under the Israeli interpretation, Palestinians must prove that the land has been continuously cultivated throughout the years since 1967. Very few Palestinians can meet these requirements and prove ownership. In the few cases where they can, there is a significant likelihood that part of the land is owned by “absentees” — relatives of Palestinians who live outside the West Bank — meaning that the state would recognize only partial Palestinian ownership of the land. Furthermore, given the lack of trust in Israeli authorities, it is highly doubtful that Palestinians would cooperate with the registration process.
3. Completing the Takeover of Approximately 83% of Area C
Area C comprises approximately 3.3 million dunams: about 1.4 million dunams of registered land (42%) and approximately 1.9 million dunams of unregistered land (58%).
Of the registered land, approximately 824,000 dunams (25% of Area C) are registered state land that was entered in the land registry during the Jordanian period. The Israeli government already controls this land. Approximately 579,000 dunams (about 17% of Area C) are registered private lands recorded in the names of Palestinians. It should be noted that the government is pursuing other means of taking control of these lands as well, through a series of measures that would allow Israelis to purchase — or claim to have purchased — them.
The registration process would enable Israel to take control of the 1.9 million dunams of unregistered land, or 58% of Area C. About 1 million dunams of this land have been declared state land and could now be registered in the state’s name. The remaining land is expected to be registered to the state if Palestinians fail to prove ownership. As noted above, Palestinians would have very little chance of successfully registering land in their names through a registration process conducted by Israel.
For more information on the registration process, see the comprehensive paper by Yesh Din.