The Knesset on Wednesday approved the preliminary reading of a bill regulating the Administrative Courts submitted by MK Bezalel Samotrich (Habayit Hayehudi). The vote was 48 yea to 39 nay.
The proposed bill determines that administrative petitions against state authorities in Judea and Samaria will be heard in district courts and not in the High Court of Justice, just as such cases are handled within the Green Line.
It is expected that, should it become law, it would greatly reduce the High Court’s involvement in planning and building in Judea and Samaria and move the legal debates to a more judicial, less political track. It should also reduce the burden of the High Court of Justice, as well as reduce the legal costs borne by the municipalities and residents of Judea and Samaria.
In his speech at the Knesset plenum, MK Smotrich elaborated on the current discrimination in the High Court of Justice regarding illegal Jewish construction versus illegal Arab construction, proving his point with statistical data from a comparison report published by Regavim. Here is a sample:
The number of days for a preliminary response over illegal Jewish construction – 23 days, against illegal Arab construction – 52 days.
Refusal to grant interim order freezing existing situation during hearing: against Jewish illegal construction – 87% of the cases, against Arab illegal construction 17% of the cases.
Average time allotted until initial court hearing of complaint: against Jewish illegal construction – 250 days, against Arab illegal construction – 370 days.
Average number of hearings for leftwing petitions – close to 3, for rightwing petitions – 1.4.
Average life of case against Jewish illegal construction – about 3 years, against Arab illegal construction – less than a year and a half.
Another statistic: despite the custom that High Court panels are supposed to be random, the Israeli High Court of Justice holds the record for mathematical improbabilities becoming reality, seeing as in 62% of petitions against Jewish illegal construction the Court President is part of the three-judge panel, but only in 32% of petitions against Arab illegal construction. That’s a lot of computer glitches for one woman.
MK Smotrich noted that “this is another step in the process of normalization of settlement in Judea and Samaria, a goal that we set for ourselves at the beginning of our term. There is no reason in the world that the residents of Judea and Samaria have to go to the High Court of Justice for everything, given that the High Court of Justice hearings are also more complex and expensive, and usually biased against the settlers.”
MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Camp for now) said that the bill is intended to “normalize an abnormal situation. There will always be a bill that is supposed to correct distortions,” she said, “But Habayit Hayehudi’s goal is the legal annexation of Judea and Samaria.”