The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed down a preliminary injunction requiring the government to submit, within 60 days, a defense of its continued enforcement of Jordanian Law #40. This law prohibits the sale of land in Judea and Samaria to Jews. Passed in the 1950s during the Jordanian occupation, it remains in force to this very day.
The Regavim Movement welcomed the news of the newly-issued order. Attorney Boaz Arzi said, “Our petition asked an obvious question: How is it possible in Judea and Samaria, of all the places in the world, a racist law still prohibits Jews from buying property?”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that he does not intend to repeal Law #40 – despite the recommendations of Ministry of Defense professionals and his predecessors. A preliminary order against Gantz was issued Tuesday that requires him to present his arguments against the repeal of the law. Now that Gantz will be confronted, he has a lot of explaining to do. There can be no justification to keep Jews from purchasing land that Israel legally owns via a decades old law. Jordanian law #40 does not apply anymore and must be repealed immediately. We will be following all developments closely.