The rule of sovereignty – a political opportunity to bring about a revolution

By Shneor Shapira, WOMEN IN GREEN

[in Issue 637 of the journal Olam Katan (to Parashat Tetzaveh):]

To date the government in Judea and Samaria is under the command of the OC Central Command. The applicable laws are a confused mixture of Israeli, Jordanian, British and even Turkish laws. For example, while Israeli tax laws are fully applicable, and residents of Judea and Samaria pay taxes like all other Israeli citizens, the Labor Law does not apply fully in Judea and Samaria. Israeli law prevents the dismissal of pregnant women? Not in Judea and Samaria, and this is only one example.

The Basic Law on the Referendum, enacted in 2014, states that in order to evacuate settlers from an area where Israeli law applies, the government must reach an agreement with the Palestinians, approve the arrangement in the government and the Knesset, and hold a referendum. The evacuation of Judea and Samaria may take place in the same format as the expulsion of Gush Katif in a political grab, and in recent years, after many years of establishing a hold on Judea and Samaria, The discourse on the right has changed. The voices calling for the annexation and application of Israeli law in one way or another are increasing. There is Bennett’s plan, and there are plans by Uri Ariel and the late Rabbi Benny Elon, and recently the Likud Central Committee has ratified a clause in the party constitution that seeks to impose sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

In continuation of this trend, at the initiative of the Land of Israel lobby in the Knesset, a bill for the application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria was placed before the Knesset. The bill seeks to apply the law to the “settlement areas in Judea and Samaria” – that is, not all of Judea and Samaria, but only the areas of Jewish settlements. Indeed, the law is “thin” relative to larger programs such as the one promoted by the Jewish home. On the other hand, because of the nature of the law, there is a real possibility that all members of the coalition will support the law, while a law that is too broad will likely find it difficult to recruit the required majority.

How will the law affect? Beyond removing the constant cloud of possible evacuation, the law will dramatically change the civilian life of the residents of the area. Labor law, as mentioned above, shall apply without discrimination. The laws of property, planning and construction, which are currently based on Turkish and Jordanian legislation, will change without recognition. Let us take, for example, the Nativ Ha’avot neighborhood in Gush Etzion.

Without going into details, the legal question in this case is who the land on which the houses were built. If the conflict had taken place in Tel Aviv, the question would have been referred to the District Court, where the case would be examined, the evidence of the parties decided, one way or the other.

In Judea and Samaria, however, such disputes are referred directly to the High Court of Justice. The procedures in the High Court of Justice are completely different insofar as the laws of evidence are concerned, and the difference, along with the tendency of the High Court to significantly erode the property rights of the Arabs, creates severe discrimination against the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.

In an aside, it is worth noting the activity of Minister Ayelet Shaked in the matter. From the beginning of her tenure as justice minister, Shaked has determined that any law that is promoted under her tenure will be immediately applied in Judea and Samaria, and this decision will affect only future laws and not previous laws. In the Knesset there will be a world war between the opposition and the coalition over the question of its application in Judea and Samaria. This happened only recently with Naftali Bennett’s decision to subordinate Ariel University to the National Council for Higher Education (and not to the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria), and in effect to turn it into a full-fledged university.

Politically, this is a perfect situation for the law. Likud MKs overwhelmingly support the bill. The Jewish Home are trying to bring about total annexation, and certainly they are supposed to support this law. The Haredi parties are also supposed to support the law, mainly for the practical reason – the law will benefit the 200,000 ultra-Orthodox living beyond the Green Line. Moshe Kahlon, who at the time of the disengagement was a member of the Likud rebels, recently called for sovereignty over the settlement blocs. His personal inclination is supposed to support the law, and therefore it seems that under certain circumstances he will support it. Lieberman is a riddle. All that remains is to get the prime minister to support the law.

Those who oppose the law on the left claim, of course, that this is a perpetuation of the occupation, a “creeping annexation” and an apartheid policy. In fact, the law does just the opposite. It eliminates long-standing discrimination against settlers in Judea and Samaria and compares their rights to all citizens of Israel The law comes in a perfect political reality The prime minister is trying to maintain his political base during the interrogation period. And of course, the understanding that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is a fait accompli has been deeply ingrained among most of Israel’s residents. All these require the passing of the law immediately. We will not have a better situation.