A petition filed by the Regavim movement in the High Court states that the Civil Administration and the Ministry of Defense have in recent years been following an internal procedure contrary to the Planning and Building Law, which has led to inaction regarding any enforcement against illegal Palestinian construction in Judea and Samaria. This has led to a sharp increase in illegal Arab buildings being built in the area.
The petition reveals that in recent years the Civil Administration and the Ministry of Defense have formulated an internal, illegal work procedure. It stipulates that enforcement proceedings against illegal construction in Judea and Samaria must be automatically frozen if various statutory applications are submitted for the illegal structure. This includes a master plan, a building permit, a legal appeal, a request for a stay of proceedings and a petition to the High Court, even if it is clear in advance that the requests have no legal chance due to lack of land ownership, lack of planning chances, and even a declared request for a “non-legal” halt.
Meir Deutsch, director-general of the Regavim movement, explains the strategic risk created by the procedure: “Even when the many bureaucratic procedures are finally over, it will be an old illegal construction over which no one will try to enforce the law. This procedure is the silver platter on which the Palestinian state is based.”
The systemic failure of Israel’s Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, by
Lt. Col. (res) Maurice Hirsch/JNS, October 17, 2021