Tag: illegal construction

כ"ז אב התש"פ - 17 August 2020
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Illegal PA construction

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has been told that the Palestinians have taken over large swaths of Israeli-controlled land in Judea and Samaria while authorities dither on what action to take, Makor Rishon reported Monday.

Testifying before the committee, a representative of the pro-settlement Regavim presented mapping data they collected that does not correspond to the data of the Civil Administration.

“They [Civil Administration] are talking about locating 650 buildings, we found 3,500 illegal buildings built in 2020,” Meir Deutsch said. “Today there are about 69,000 illegal buildings in Area C,” which amounts to 30 to 40 percent of Area C.

Deutsch, whose organization monitors enforcement of the law in Judea and Samaria, showed that in Area A, which is under direct Palestinian control, there are many empty areas suitable for construction without the need for Israeli approval, but the Palestinians insist on building in Area C, which is under full Israeli control.

Regavim said the Palestinians are taking advantage of Israel’s non-enforcement and taking over land in Area C due to the decision-making vacuum as Israel took the last six months to prepare for the application of Israeli sovereignty to settlements in Judea and Samaria.

The sovereignty plan would have seen up to 30 percent of Judea and Samaria fall under direct Israeli rule, but last week it was indefinitely postponed as a condition for the impending establishment of diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, expected to happen at the White House in the coming weeks.

The committee was told that as early as 2017, the Civil Administration recommended a plan to register land in Judea and Samaria as a countermeasure to the registration proceedings initiated by the Palestinian Authority. Knesset Member Ayelet Shaked claims those plans got stuck with the prime minister.

It was revealed that the cabinet decided a year ago that action needed to be taken to thwart the PA’s plan to seize sections of Area C, but nothing was done.

“A common tactic of the Palestinian Authority is to build schools to facilitate a land grab,” Regavim tweeted, saying the Palestinians use large amounts of European funds provided for Palestinian construction in order to quickly put up buildings they call schools without building permits on lands not under their legal control.

The Palestinians then put students in the new school before legal action is taken to demolish the illegal structure, owing to the Israeli government dragging its feet on the legal procedures.

Israel not moving in immediately “makes it much harder for Israel to demolish. Political, international, media pressure works wonders,” Regavim said.

This article appeared on World Israel News

כ"א תמוז התש"פ - 13 July 2020
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Vehicle that was overturned

Today (Monday 13 July), Nature and Parks Authority inspectors, accompanied by a police escort, entered the Har Meron Nature Reserve to post court orders on illegal structures built in the protected area.

The inspectors quickly found themselves surrounded by a violent mob of residents of nearby Beit Jann, who pelted them with stones and physically assaulted them. The inspectors were extracted with great difficulty.

The video clip of the incident released by the Nature and Park Authority’s spokesperson shows the inspectors’ vehicle overturned and in flames.

Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim reacted to the incident: “The same criminals who have defaced the Har Meron Nature Reserve with illegal construction are now attempting to use violent means to prevent the authorities from doing their job. The physical assault on state officials is an attempt to prevent the enforcement of the State of Israel’s Planning and Construction Law.

“Law enforcement officials should not find themselves in life-threatening situations, and the Israel Police must prosecute these criminals to the full extent of the law. We will monitor the investigation of this incident closely, and demand that those involved are brought to justice. Hooliganism of this kind cannot be rewarded.”

Illegal schools
י"ח טבת התש"פ - 15 January 2020
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Illegal PA school built in nature reserve

Many people submitted a petition in the Jerusalem District Court Wednesday against the Palestinian Authority, which built an illegal school within the Nahal Mahoch Nature Reserve, on state land.

The petition was filed in parallel with Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s announcement this morning that he would create seven new nature reserves in Judea and Samaria.

The site where the illegal construction was carried out spans some 18,000 dunams (4,450 acres) in the northern Judean Desert, extending from Mount Hatzor to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The reserve is home to several species of rare flowers such as the Judean iris and the Tulipa agenensis, as well as several rare bird species. The sign posted on the school, which was built with EU funding and other foreign funds, indicates that the structure is owned and owned by the State of Palestine – Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

A photograph was attached to the petition from an official mapping site of the Palestinian Authority, which proves that the PA is well aware that the land is Israeli state land in the heart of a nature reserve.

The petition was resubmitted to the Jerusalem District Court in light of last week’s Supreme Court directive that the proceeding should be held in an administrative court, following the state’s statement that a demolition order was issued in February.

The new petition highlights the disenfranchisement of the enforcement authorities – in light of the fact that since the demolition orders were issued, an entire year has passed, during which the PA was able to complete the construction of the building and accommodate the students for the new school year.

The petitioners are suing the PA for breach of environmental protection laws, invasion of state land, and violation of planning and construction laws.

Meir Deutsch, CEO of the Regavim Movement, said that “Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s announcement of the declaration of new nature reserves in Judea and Samaria is a welcome and worthwhile step that has not been implemented for years. Bennett’s refreshing change in direction in maintaining Area C shows that there is an important and significant perceptual change here “

“At the same time, the petition demonstrates just how important the actual conservation of nature reserves is, and what the strategic significance of the PA is to take control of its nature reserves and its ambition to do so as far as it wants. Enforcement should look and be done, and one hour earlier,” he added.

This article appeared on Arutz7

כ' כסלו התש"פ - 18 December 2019
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Members of the Joint Arab List

This morning (Wednesday 18 December), the Knesset Arrangements Committee assigned hearings on enforcement of the ‘Kaminןtz Law’ to the Finance Committee. MKs from the United Arab List immediately launched a flurry of tweets framing the decision as a step toward the successful repeal of the law.

MK Osama Saadi of the United Arab List claimed that in last Wednesday’s hearing on the dissolution of the Knesset, understandings were reached with all Knesset factions on a five-year suspension of the Kaminetz Law. “Regavim’s people, who are here again this morning, were called to the Knesset at 2 am last week, and they managed to persuade some MKs to change their position.”

MK Dr. Shlomo Karai (Likud) countered Saadi’s claims: “You tried to stage a coup, and we blocked it.”

As Regavim’s spokesperson notes, only the Minister of Justice has the authority to make substantive amendments to the law. Today’s decision was purely technical; if the Minister of Justice sees fit to initiate a review of the law or any of its elements, this review will be conducted in the Knesset Finance Committee, rather than in its more natural forum, the Interior Committee, which has not been convened because no government has been successfully formed.

Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim, commented after today’s hearing: “The Kaminetz Law, one of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the outgoing Likud-led government’s major accomplishments, has been a major force in protecting the land of the Galilee and the Negev, helping slash illegal construction starts in these areas by dozens of percentage points in the short time since its ratification. The decision to reconsider the law’s provisions is the exclusive purview of the Minister of Justice, and we are certain that he will not allow the Likud’s important achievement to be undone, nor will he capitulate to the United Arab List’s manipulations.”

"Masafer Yatta"
כ"ח סיון התשע"ח - 11 June 2018
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IDF Firing Zones 917 and 918 are situated in a strategic area in the South Hebron Hills, a region that connects Israel’s eastern flank to the Negev and the Dead Sea.

For the past few years, a massive take-over of land in this area has been underway, and we at Regavim have made a major effort to combat the phenomenon and have the squatters removed. In Area 918, for example, we submitted a petition against an entire village, Halet al Dabaa, which was constructed illegally by the European Union.

We also petitioned the Supreme Court last year regarding an illegal road that had been paved, in another attempt to create facts on the ground and fulfill the Fayyad Plan’s vision of connecting Gaza, the Negev, and the Hebron Hills and create territorial contiguity that would effectively amputate the Negev from Israel.

***

This week, in response to our petition, the High Court of Justice issued an order to halt illegal development activities on IDF Firing Grounds 917 and 918.

We welcome the High Court’s clear pronouncement and hope it will be the first step toward halting this catastrophic plan.

Kaminitz Law
י"ז ניסן התשע"ז - 13 April 2017
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Illegal construction near Misgav, northern Israel

Following a legislative initiative over a decade in the works, the Knesset last week passed the “Kaminitz Law,” granting the state greater authority when it comes to enforcement with regard to construction violations throughout the country.

The legislation, known as amendment 109 of the Planning and Building Law, which passed 43-33 in a special session held during the Knesset’s Passover recess, is a game changer.

The new law was introduced by the government following recommendations by a committee led by deputy attorney-general Erez Kaminitz, who sought ways to deal with the plague of illegal building in Israel.

The law gives the National Building Supervision Unit the power to supervise the work of the local municipalities, which until today went unchecked.

What you had was a phenomenon in which local mayors would simply ignore building violations.

The law also provides building inspectors with greater authority to stop illegal building dead in its tracks as soon as the construction commences. In addition the law calls for a huge increase in fines for building without a permit.

Our organization, Regavim, has been working on passing this type of legislation from the very beginning to help change the situation on the ground when it comes to the enforcement of building laws in this country.

The law also lessens the bureaucratic nightmare prevalent for decades, in which those who knowingly build illegally were aware that if they played the “game” right, they could continue to make use of their illegal structures, whether homes, offices, or storage spaces, since appeal after appeal in the courts would lengthen the period of inaction, or lack of enforcement, for years at a time.

The Arab MKs are protesting against this new law, claiming that the state doesn’t allow the Arab population to build legally in their communities, hence they are forced to resort to illegal building. Regavim is aware of this recycled false narrative.

Taking a step back, obtaining a building permit throughout all of Israel is a multi-step process. Firstly, the National Building Planning Administration designs the overall layout of any given city or town.

Certain areas are designated for housing, other areas for open spaces, industry, agriculture etc.

Once that city plan is approved, the municipalities or private developers seeking to build in the recognized building areas must come forward with their detailed construction designs. The city then takes the detailed plan back to the building administration for final approval. Once that happens building can commence.

However, according to Regavim’s research, in 95% of the Arab towns and villages in northern Israel (where the majority of the Arab population resides), while the state has in fact put together long-term city plans, the local Arab municipalities don’t utilize those plans. It is for this reason that the residents of these areas are unable to obtain the proper building permits.

Whether it’s a lack of funds due to a failure to collect property taxes (arnona), or tensions between clans and tribes who fight over designated building areas, the municipal or private developers’ plans aren’t being brought for approval.

In other words, it’s not the state’s fault; the onus is on the local officials who aren’t taking responsibility for the construction demands of their populations.

As a result you get Arabs who resort to illegal building without approved plans. When the state points out the violations and seeks to demolish the illegal construction, it becomes the bad guy.

And that’s where the necessary new law comes into play – it allows for swift enforcement, before the above-mentioned scenarios can cause outbreaks of illegal construction.

As mentioned, while Arab MKs were critical of the new law, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed the exact opposite sentiment, showing his strong support for the legislation as a means to integrate the Arab population into Israeli society.

As he stated, “The government which I head has invested, and continues to invest more than any other [previous] government in the Arab sector in order to close the existing gaps – in education, wages, culture, as well as health.

“Israeli Arabs want to be a part of the State of Israel, they want to be a part of the prosperity of Israel’s economy, they want to be a part of the future of the State of Israel, of all the citizens of Israel, and therefore we are investing like no government before us has done. We want the integration of the Arab public into the State of Israel, but that also means integrating with the laws of the State of Israel.”

It’s important to note that the prime minister stressed that the new law wasn’t targeting Arabs only, but that enforcement of the law would be applied equally in all sectors.

“One state, one law, one enforcement. This is what we did today, and I thank you for the passage of this important law,” the prime minister concluded.

For Regavim the passage of the law was viewed as a major success. Leaders of the NGO said they were hopeful that law enforcement authorities would actively utilize the tools granted to them by the new legislation to strengthen the sovereignty of the State of Israel over all of its land.

This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post