'Israel's behavior in Judea and Samaria does not befit a state that prides itself on the rule of law'
On Thursday, I blogged a report that was issued by a blue-ribbon panel headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy that looked at Israeli 'settlement' policy in Judea and Samaria. Some of the more mainstream media outlets have read the report (which I have not seen) and are now providing summaries. “We wish to stress that the picture that has been displayed before us regarding Israeli settlement activity in Judea and Samaria does not befit the behavior of a state that prides itself on, and is committed to, the rule of law,” said the report, which was authored by three legal experts.Read the whole thing.
The experts are former Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy, former Foreign Ministry legal adviser Alan Baker and former deputy president of the Tel Aviv District Court Tchia Shapira.
In late January, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appointed the trio – nicknamed the “outpost committee” – to investigate the legal status of unauthorized West Bank Jewish building.
...
The report did not overly focus on Israel’s diplomatic considerations with respect to the peace process or past pledges to the international community not to create new West Bank settlements.
Instead it looked at Israel’s obligation under international and domestic law.
The United Nations often states that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. It bases this on its understanding that Israel “occupies” the West Bank.
But the outpost report concluded that the classical laws of occupation “as set out in the relevant international conventions cannot be considered applicable to the unique and sui generis historic and legal circumstances of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria spanning over decades.”
Similarly, it said, the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention against the transfer of populations is not applicable to the Israeli settlement activity in Judea and Samaria.
“Israelis have the legal right to settle in Judea and Samaria and the establishment of settlements cannot, in and of itself, be considered illegal,” according to the report.
Still, the report noted that unauthorized Jewish building, including some 100 outposts built from 1991 to 2005, had occurred with the help of government offices and ministries.
According to the report, unauthorized Jewish building in Judea and Samaria was “carried out with the knowledge, encouragement and tactic agreement of the most senior political level – government ministers and the prime minister.”
This building moved forward even though it lacked the proper permits and authorizations, the report said.
But, it added, the involvement of government offices and ministries in such activity means that “such conduct is to be seen as implied agreement.” It concluded that this “implied agreement” opened the door for Netanyahu’s government to legalize this construction if it so chooses.
The committee urged the government to clean house with regard to settlement activity by clarifying its policy on West Bank Jewish building and ensuring that all future settlement construction had the proper authorizations and permits.
Israel is no longer in a formative state, and construction must happen according to rules and procedures, the committee’s report said, adding that “all actions on this matter can only be in accordance with the law.”
It then issued a series of recommendations to retroactively legalize construction and to stop any further unauthorized building.
The committee called on the government to allow planning and zoning authorities to complete the authorization process for outposts and unauthorized settler building on state land. This should be done without any further need for additional political approval, the committee said.
“Pending completion of these proceedings and examination of the possibility of granting building permits, the state is advised to avoid carrying out demolition orders, since it brought about the present situation by itself,” the report said. It suggested that settlements built on land whose status is unclear should be considered “settlements whose legal status is pending.”
As you might imagine, the report has Israel's Left fuming.
Labels: Judea and Samaria, Judea and Samaria construction, outposts
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:46 AM
3 Comments:
Leftist Yale Professor Alan Dershowitz celebrates himself as one of Israel's grandest supporters. He goes all over giving speeches, including some new effort that one of the Stand With Israel groups has to train university age kids... in what? his Leftist philosophy?
Certainly he will not teach what your committee has determined as the law. And as a current U.S. Dem, he may even call out people who don't chuck the law to follow his vision of Social Justice (aka marcuse marxism) as "Extremist Elements." I was thoroughly dismayed when he came up with this one just last month.
A Settlement Freeze Can Advance Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Israel's new unity government is strong and diverse enough to survive a walkout by extremist elements.
By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303674004577432640819025670.html
Bottom line: Land ownership. Title search. Legal provenance. Zoning. GIS layers of title info by lot, by year, with annotations of history. Get out of the "settler" vocab, moving to land owner, resident, neighborhood (when it is a neighborhood... if it is 5 houses on one block, don't call it a neighborhood, but a block), planned development. Accuracy. Not narrative. Accuracy.
Professor Dershowitz - Harvard, not Yale. Sorry!
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