Adalah petitions on behalf of Nazareth Mayor against policy restricting land to former soldiers
Major Jeraisy: “The policy prevents the overwhelming majority of Nazareth’s residents from bidding for the land”
On 12 November 2012, Adalah petitioned the Nazareth District Court demanding that it cancel a provision making “service in the security forces” a condition to bid on five plots of land in Nazareth. Nazareth has a population of 80,000, a negligible proportion of which have served in the Israeli army. Therefore, the restricted bid discriminates against the overwhelming majority of residents. Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara filed the petition on behalf of Nazareth Mayor Ramez Jeraisy and a Nazareth family who do not own a home and live on social security benefits due to the husband’s disability. The family does not meet the military service condition and therefore is barred from bidding for the land.
The petition emphasized that the condition amounted illegally “tailoring the bid to specific individuals.” Nazareth suffers from massive overcrowding. The housing crisis in Nazareth is a result of the Israel Land Administration’s failure to allocate new areas of land for construction, despite natural population growth. The military service precondition contravenes the principle of equal opportunities and equality among the town’s residents, and prevents the many families who do not own homes in Nazareth from becoming homeowners.
Attorney Bishara stressed that military service as a precondition for purchasing a plot of land contravenes the principle of equal opportunities in the division of public property. Land allocation, moreover, has no connection to the issue of military or social service.
According to Major Jeraisy, “This provision, which was added to the bid, excludes large groups of people and prevents the vast majority of the people of Nazareth, including those who need homes, from entering this bid, which is in any case limited to only five plots of land.” He added, “We ask the Israel Land Administration to increase the number of plots allocated for the residents of Nazareth, and for Arab citizens of Israel in general.”
Case citation: Administrative Petition 21030-11-12 Municipality of Nazareth vs. Israel Land Administration
