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Last update - 14:57 24/09/2007
High Court delays ruling on JNF land sales to non-Jews
By Anshel Pfeffer and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service

The High Court of Justice on Monday delayed its ruling on whether the Jewish National Fund should be obligated to sell its land to non-Jews by at least four months, in order to give the JNF time to reach an agreement with the Attorney General.

The JNF asked the court to delay the ruling, after JNF and Israel Lands Association representatives agreed last Thursday to temporarily implement a proposal by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that JNF lands be marketed to any potential customer, without discrimination based on ethnicity.

In exchange, any time JNF land is sold to a non-Jew, the ILA will compensate it with other land, thereby ensuring that the overall amount of Jewish-owned land in Israel remains the same.

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According to the state's response to the High Court petition, which was signed by the head of the Justice Ministry's High Court department, Osnat Mandel, the new arrangement will be in effect for three months.

The brief asked the court to postpone the hearing during this time, which the JNF and the ILA will use to discuss ways for the JNF to preserve its original goals while obeying the law.

The JNF has long insisted that its lands be sold only to Jews, due to the fact that the land was purchased with money from Jewish donors for the purpose of settling Jews in the Land of Israel.

This "tactical retreat" reportedly stems from the JNF's concern that the High Court will issue a precedent-setting ruling in response to a 2004 petition filed by Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

Adalah rejected the JNF's declaration on Monday, saying it would appeal it in court.

Adalah Director Hassan Jabareen said the JNF has had enough time in the 3 years since his organization submitted the petition to reach a conclusive, long-term decision, rather than offer a temporary 3-month arrangement.

He called the JNF declaration a "manipulative move aimed at buying time."

"JNF controls 13 percent of the land in Israel, and under this plan only Jewish communities could be built on it. This is a typical form of apartheid," Jabareen said.

Adalah petitioned the court on behalf of Arab citizens who were refused permission to bid on an Israel Lands Administration (ILA) tender for residential housing lots in Carmiel. The potential purchasers were told that the land belonged to the JNF, and was therefore intended only for Jewish use. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel and several Arab rights organizations supported the petition.

The JNF's position was dealt a blow in 2005, when Mazuz ruled that the policy was discriminatory and he would not defend it in the High Court. Mazuz reiterated this stance to the High Court four months ago.

Several public figures, including Nobel Prize laureate Robert (Israel) Aumann and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, were to join the petition Monday morning as respondents, arguing that the JNF has a responsibility to its contributors to reserve the lands it purchased with their money for Jews only.

The brief filed by the state makes it clear that the JNF has not changed its original position, whereby "rights to the land it owns should not be awarded to those who are not Jewish," but the ILA, operating on the attorney general's instructions, recognizes its obligation to market lands, including those of the JNF, without discrimination.

Nevertheless, the JNF has been persuaded to give in for the moment out of concern that the court might issue a ruling undermining the JNF's policy, similar to its precedent-setting ruling in 2000 in favor of Adel Kaadan, an Israeli Arab who successfully petitioned the court for the right to build a home in the Jewish community of Katzir.

The JNF holds approximately 2.6 million dunams (some 650,000 acres) of land in Israel, which constitutes 13 percent of all state lands.

The response to the High Court indicates that the JNF and the ILA view an exchange of lands as a long-term solution and are looking for a mutually acceptable way to apply it on a large scale. In the past, however, Arab organizations opposed this solution, arguing that it preserves a situation in which large amounts of land in Israel are not available for use by all of its citizens.

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  1.   then let court order arabs to sell land to jews what kind of craz 03:05  |  ralph 24/09/07
  2.   WILL THE ARAB COUNTRIES ALSO DO THE SAME? 03:08  |  David 24/09/07
  3.   No, no, a million million times NO! 03:23  |  David 24/09/07
  4.   Seems like a good solution 03:33  |  Slibovitz 24/09/07
  5.   JNF MUST BE DISMANTLED, LANDS HANDED OVER TO RABBINIC AUTHORITY)) 03:37  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 24/09/07
  6.   apartheid at its best 03:46  |  zac 24/09/07
  7.   This would not be a problem if the JNF was a private organization 04:08  |  David G 24/09/07
  8.   Land for sale 04:25  |  ottomatik 24/09/07
  9.   JNF 04:45  |  Edifice 24/09/07
  10.   Zac - did you read the article? 04:49  |  Slibovitz 24/09/07
  11.   IT IS A CRIME IN JORDAN TO SELL LAND TO JEWS 04:59  |  Meir Weinstein 24/09/07
  12.   JNF: Tempest in a teapot 05:01  |  Natallie Durson 24/09/07
  13.   Is it racist Churchs spend their money helping Christians? 05:01  |  Gili 24/09/07
  14.   JNF IS A JEWISH "WAQF" 05:13  |  G. Marcus 24/09/07
  15.   How can such smart people always be so stupid? 05:19  |  Don Quinne 24/09/07
  16.   American donors ought to demand return of donations 05:20  |  Leon Freedman 24/09/07
  17.   It`s stolen Palestinian land 05:36  |  nobodysacred 24/09/07
  18.   When Arabs Can Legally Sell Land To Jews 05:40  |  Efox 24/09/07
  19.   Mazuz cannot read 05:52  |  Gene 24/09/07
  20.   How did JNF get all this land? 06:09  |  Petteri 24/09/07
  21.   land 06:13  |  michael 24/09/07
  22.   The Only Problem With This Is... 06:41  |  Yosemite 24/09/07
  23.   CORRECT #6 Apartheid 06:43  |  Jewish CANADIAN 24/09/07
  24.   No to racism! 07:08  |  Slibovitz 24/09/07
  25.   Petteri 07:16  |  mitch 24/09/07
  26.   Whatever, it`s ugly..... 07:49  |  Esther 24/09/07
  27.   #20 Petteri asks a very good question 07:51  |  Johnboy 24/09/07
  28.   to # 23 Jewish Canadian 07:59  |  Steve the Pals. 24/09/07
  29.   JNF`s Spirituallity 08:15  |  Jesus Blanco 24/09/07
  30.   End of the JNF. Birth of the J-NJNF 08:20  |  Daniel 24/09/07
  31.   To Leon Freedman 08:24  |  American 24/09/07
  32.   to # 20 Petteri - JNF got all this land - HOW 08:28  |  Steve the Pals. 24/09/07
  33.   being jewish is not about blood, it is BELIEFS!!!!! 09:01  |  Ben 24/09/07
  34.   Land sell-out 09:02  |  Gabe 24/09/07
  35.   Mazuz 09:07  |  Avraham 24/09/07
  36.   Violation of Freedom of Religion;Jews not buy in Arab lands 09:20  |  sam 24/09/07
  37.   JNF is a charity... 09:29  |  Gershon Reed 24/09/07
  38.   JNF IS A RACIST APRTHEIDIC ORGANISATION 09:37  |  ME Observer 24/09/07
  39.   I want to buy land from the Wakf 09:45  |  Carlitos Mendez 24/09/07
  40.   Craven Capitulation By the JNF 09:48  |  Ben Israel 24/09/07
  41.   Dissolve JNF at all 09:50  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 24/09/07
  42.   #23 Your alias, "Jewish? Canadian 10:03  |  Robert 24/09/07
  43.   SO NOW THE COURTS SAY WERE I PUT MY MONEY? 10:08  |  Lavy 24/09/07
  44.   To 23 YOUR funny 10:12  |  Lavy 24/09/07
  45.   Mazuz destroyed Sderot and now proceeds to destroy whole Israel 10:15  |  Absolute Sweden 24/09/07
  46.   JNF Land 10:44  |  Fredy Ross 24/09/07
  47.   #15 don there is a bill in the knesset 10:49  |  victor hardman 24/09/07
  48.   #17 please provide proof noones intelligent 10:51  |  victor hardman 24/09/07
  49.   Theocratic Apartheid 10:58  |  POP 24/09/07
  50.   Israeli Arab JNF director 11:04  |  Shlomo 24/09/07
  51.   Apartheid B.S. 11:07  |  ATLAS 24/09/07
  52.   Jewish National Fund 11:13  |  David Olesker 24/09/07
  53.   JNF defence: deliberate confusion of two land ownership terms 11:56  |  zmogus 24/09/07
  54.   Robert , # 25 12:01  |  charles 24/09/07
  55.   The Main Buyer is the Kingdom of Jordan 12:01  |  Joseph E . 24/09/07
  56.   JNF HAS BEEN STEALING PALESINIAN LAND 12:02  |  ME Observer 24/09/07
  57.   NOW will the Pals stop killing anybody who sells land to Jews 12:04  |  PETER SM 24/09/07
  58.   Israel vs Arab states 12:07  |  charles 24/09/07
  59.   #20 Petteri: see some trouble to study and learn! 12:08  |  facts 24/09/07
  60.   NOBODYSACRED obviously you people do not know "purchased" means 12:10  |  PETERSM 24/09/07
  61.   #8, ottomatik. I failed to see the difference you referred to. 12:13  |  zmogus 24/09/07
  62.   JEWISH CANADIAN/ZAC JNF is NOT the Israeli govt. 12:23  |  PETER SM 24/09/07
  63.   Shame on high court if it rules against JNF. Is Israel now a 12:24  |  Reuven 24/09/07
  64.   #3,David.Author of Judenstaat,Altneuland is spinning in his grave 12:40  |  zmogus 24/09/07
  65.   But what`s the hurry......? 12:50  |  Esther 24/09/07
  66.   re "17 Hardhead asks for proof he does not want 12:57  |  Labhras 24/09/07
  67.   JOHNBOY GARBAGE!! JNF has been BUYING since at least 1914 12:58  |  PETER SM 24/09/07
  68.   The JNF - scoff 13:03  |  Alice of Wonderland 24/09/07
  69.   #45, Absolute Sweden. What precisely bothers you? 13:12  |  zmogus 24/09/07
  70.   ZMOGUS do you "see" what happens to Pals 13:36  |  PETER SM 24/09/07
  71.   To Gabe & Natalie 13:36  |  IsraeliArab 24/09/07
  72.   The JNF didn`t mind buying stolen land from the Jewish state 13:43  |  Apartheid 24/09/07
  73.   #66 more comedy from the irish comedian labarse 13:43  |  victor hardman 24/09/07
  74.   until the price of spuds goes up ireland is in trouble 14:07  |  papal bull 24/09/07
  75.   HOW can you "steal" land that is occupied and belongs to no-one? 14:12  |  Alice of Wonderland 24/09/07
  76.   75 Alice gives us the history of Wonderland. 14:23  |  Apartheid 24/09/07
  77.   Pals have the right to buy land too 14:32  |  PETER SM 24/09/07
  78.   You can`t pay for the right to be racist 14:43  |  Tim 24/09/07
  79.   APARTHEID.Re"Stolen" please show the borders the Arabs recognised 14:46  |  PETER SM