The High Court of Justice struck-down yesterday the so-called “Regulation Law”, enacted in 2017 to appropriate private Palestinian lands in the West Bank for the benefit of Israeli settlements and houses. In her ruling, Chief Justice Esther Hayut quoted from a 1980 legal opinion composed by then-Attorney General Yizhak Zamir, which was found by Akevot at the Israel State Archives, and submitted to the court as part of the appeal.
AG Zamir’s Legal Opinion of 1980: https://akvt.in/ZamirOpinion
In Zamir’s legal opinion he examined options to legalize Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. To his concluding opinion AG Zamir attached a hand written note to Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in which he wrote: “Prime Minister, […] Unfortunantely I have come to the conclusion the the legal tools are not suitable for a satisfactory resolution of the political problem. I am sorry if you find this Legal Opinion does not assist the government in the political arena, but all I can do is present the law as it stands, to the best of my understanding and conscience, and this I have faithfully tried to do.”
The petition against the Regulation Law was submitted to the High court of Justice by several Israeli human rights organizations, including Akevot Institute, and Palestinian local councils in the West Bank.