A/HRC/22/63
settlement activities in the OPT. It also indicates the new basis (declarations of
―State Land‖) to continue with this endeavour after the ruling in the Elon Moreh
case: ―Settlement activities were carried out in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza region
(…) the allotment of land for existing settlements or those settlements whose
establishment was previously decided upon in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]
(…) Givon will be established partly on land belonging to state and partly on land
owned by Jews, which will be purchased from its owners for this purpose (…) Beit
Horon will be established on state lands (…) Efrat will be established on state lands
(…) Elkana and Kedumim will be expanded by additional of state land (…) An
inter-ministerial committee will be established which will examine the situation in
the settlements of Ophra and Kedumim, and which will recommend solutions for
their problems in the framework of government policy.‖37 (14 October)
1980
• Military Order 892 Concerning the Administration of Local Councils is issued. The
order regulates the issue of larger settlements which have been awarded the status of
―local councils‖, and defines the manner in which the area of the council is defined
at the discretion of the Israeli Army Regional Commander: (1 March)
• The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 465 which follows Resolutions 446 and
452, determining ―that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character,
demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and
other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof,
have no legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its
population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of
the Fourth Geneva Convention (…) and a serious obstruction to achieving a
comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.‖ 38 (1 March)
• Between 1980 and 1984 over 800,000 dunums of land is confiscated through the
selective use of the Ottoman Land Law of 1858. The method is largely devised by
the director of the Civil Department at the State Prosecutors Office, Plia Albek, with
the backing of her superiors: Attorneys General Aharon Barak and Yitzhak Zamir
(both later Supreme Court Justices) 39. The West Bank was surveyed by air and on
the ground to identify uncultivated land. This would then be cross checked with land
records and any lands not under private ownership would be declared as State Land.
The onus is placed on those liable to be injured by the declaration to appeal to a
military committee within 45 days.40
1981
• The Defence Minister (1981-1983) Ariel Sharon prepares a plan (the Sharon Plan)
covering areas he believes are vital for Israel's security and which should be
annexed. Only a small number of enclaves densely populated by Palestinians are not
37
38
39
40
30
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ―50 Cabinet communiqué on settlements- 14 October 1979
VOLUME 6: 1979-1980‖ www.mfa.gov.il
S/RES/465
Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, ―Lords of the Land‖, 2005
B’Tselem‘s report, Land Grab, May 2002
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