The Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee is advancing a disputed piece of legislation that would place antiquities management in Judea and Samaria under direct Israeli civilian control, a step that critics say effectively amounts to annexation in practice.
The committee, chaired by Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionism party, met on Monday to begin preparing the bill for its second and third readings in the Knesset plenum.
Under the proposal, authority over archaeological activity would be transferred from the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration to a new civilian body called the “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority.”
Relevant to this, on Wednesday the Israeli government approved a NIS 250 million ($85.5 million) plan to develop and preserve heritage sites across Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the Judean Desert.
AFSI Insight
This legislation represents a valid measure to safeguard and effectively oversee archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria. The current systems under military or Civil Administration oversight are ineffective, inadequately funded, or incapable of stopping looting and destruction. Furthermore, this bill will enhance Israel’s historical and cultural ties to the area, while also correcting bureaucratic neglect of important heritage sites. The approval of the funding confirms the government’s commitment to preservation measures.