Antiquities bill extending Israeli civilian control over West Bank ready for Knesset plenum vote

A controversial bill creating a new civilian authority that will be in charge of antiquities in the West Bank is ready to be voted on by the Knesset plenum after its draft was approved by the security cabinet yesterday, the bill’s sponsor, Likud MK Amit Halevi, tells The Times of Israel in an exchange of written messages.

A date for the vote has yet to be set.

In a dramatic move, the bill, if approved, would also apply to Areas A and B. Under the Oslo Accords, Area B is under the Palestinian Authority’s civilian control, while Area A is under both PA civilian and security control.

Last week, the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee okayed the draft, but given its sensitive nature, and at the Justice Ministry’s request, the committee decided that the bill would return to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation for discussion.

The committee’s legal adviser, Tamar Sela, stressed that if passed into law, the legislation would mark the first time the Knesset exercises direct power over expropriation and acquisition of land in the West Bank, as well as additional enforcement powers, which would also apply to Palestinian residents.

Supporters of the bill claim the measure is necessary to preserve archaeological sites and artifacts in the area that are languishing due to decades of neglect, damage, and looting.

Its critics maintain that the move would amount to de facto annexation in the field of antiquities without improving the situation for archaeological and ancient sites and artifacts.

Halevi says that in light of the cabinet’s decision, the draft will now go straight to the plenum for its first reading. If approved, the bill will then return to the committee to be prepared for the plenum’s second and third readings.

Yesterday, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a series of security cabinet decisions to “dramatically” change land registration and property acquisition procedures in the West Bank, easing Jewish settlement in the territory.

It was also decided to expand oversight and enforcement activities into areas A and B with regard to water violations, damage to archaeological sites, and environmental hazards that pollute the entire territory, they said in a joint statement.