The JNF and Israel Land Authority’s Attitude Towards Leasing JNF Land to Non-Jews: Practical Implementation

Abstract

The Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) ‘Articles of Association’ of 1907 state that Zionist owned lands should not be leased to non-Jews. However, when Israel attained statehood the JNF amended its discriminatory regulations. The difference between the historical and amended regulations illustrate the JNF’s effort to find a creative solution to maintain its former policy with a few exceptions. In 1961 it signed a treaty with the Israel Land Administration (ILA) that allowed the state to manage JNF lands through the ILA.

As a state body, the ILA could not administer JNF lands in a discriminatory way therefore it adopted a policy of land exchange whenever it allocated JNF lands. But the ILA ceased this procedure at the turn of the millennium. This was a decision that should be seen in the spirit of the times when transparency and individual rights take precedence over other values, which is why the ILA was frequently criticized. Its officials claimed that land exchange and discrimination against non-Jews could be concealed. They preferred individual rights and transparency, and were aware that the fundamental question of non-Jews’ rights on JNF lands would be referred to the High Court of Justice. Indeed, because of the ILA’s policy change, in 2004 the Court ruled that the method of State-JNF land exchange was a temporary solution. Thus a fundamental arrangement still awaits the Court’s decision.