For years, Palestinians were not allowed to sell land to Israelis. Those who did were often tortured and executed. Now, a new arrangement allows Palestinians to sell land to Israelis without fear for their lives.
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A Palestinian seeking to sell land in Judea and Samaria to Israelis must produce proof that the land is privately owned. For years, Israel demanded that the Palestinians and the Israeli buyers produce wills confirming that the land had been purchased in the 1960s and left to the benefactors. However, the will had to be procured by the Sharia (Islamic law) court in the Palestinian Authority. Palestinians entering the court to procure the documents would be met by members of the PA security forces, who would take them to a basement where they would be tortured.
Palestinians became afraid to sell their land, and those who did would often flee abroad.
In 2019, Dr. Chagai Vinizky, an expert in constitutional law and law in Judea and Samaria at the Academic College for Law and Science, who also serves as director of the Begin Institute of Law and Zionism, reached out to IDF and IDF Civil Administration officials and suggested allowing potential Palestinian sellers to receive the wills from a Sharia court inside the Green Line. This would allow the Palestinian sellers to obtain the necessary documents without involving the PA and its security forces.
The IDF and the Civil Administration approved the idea, and last November, GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs signed an order allowing the new protocol.
Despite the significant development, most settlement officials were unaware of the arrangement until recently. However, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit issued a statement saying that the new policy had been published in November 2021 and since then has been on the IDF's official website as well as "other public digital platforms."
Vinizky welcomed the decision.
"It's happy news, it will allow real estate deals in Judea and Samaria, promote settlements, and save lives," he said.
MK Orit Strock also welcomed the new arrangement, saying "In the face of the brutal war the PA is waging against acquisition of land by Jews, this is a wise, simple, and effective solution, and the decision to adopt it is welcome news.
"It is appropriate that legal entities fight determinedly against the PA's anti-Semitic laws and against its mechanism of threats and torture," Strock said.
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