Israeli Law In Palestine: Who Does It Serve?

Israel's laws do not apply in Palestine. Israel is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy, and its parliament, the unicameral 120-member Knesset, has enacted a series of Basic Laws that enumerate certain rights and freedoms. However, these laws do not apply in Palestine, as the country does not have a formal constitution.

Instead, Palestine is governed by a complex mix of laws, including military orders, presidential decrees, and legislation passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council. These laws often conflict with each other and are subject to change, making it difficult to determine which laws are currently in force. Additionally, the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, have their own legal systems, further complicating the legal landscape in Palestine.

While Israel does not directly enforce its laws in Palestine, it does exert significant influence over the region and has been accused of committing human rights abuses against Palestinians. Human rights organizations have documented various violations, including unlawful killings, arbitrary detention, restrictions on freedom of movement, and the use of excessive force against protesters. These actions have been condemned by the international community, and there have been calls for Israel to be held accountable for its actions.

The Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Israeli Military Occupation and Control

The West Bank and Gaza Strip have been under Israeli military occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War, despite international calls for an end to this occupation. This occupation has been marked by the presence of Israeli settlements, military forces, and restrictive policies that limit Palestinian movement, access to resources such as water and electricity, and the ability to earn a living. Israel justifies its presence as necessary for security reasons, but critics argue that it infringes on Palestinian rights and violates international law.

Systematic Human Rights Violations

Israeli policies and practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have resulted in systematic human rights violations against Palestinians. These include restrictions on movement, access to resources such as water and electricity, and the ability to earn a living. Palestinians also face daily humiliation, fear, and oppression due to the constant presence of Israeli military rule and settlements. Human rights organisations have documented cases of extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and the use of excessive force by Israeli forces.

Settlement Expansion and Land Confiscation

Israel has consistently pursued a policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank and previously in the Gaza Strip. This has involved the confiscation of Palestinian land, the displacement of Palestinian communities, and the construction of exclusive Jewish-only settlements. These settlements are considered illegal under international law and have contributed to the fragmentation of Palestinian territories, restricting Palestinian movement and access to resources.

Blockades and Restrictions on Movement

Israel has imposed blockades and restrictions on the movement of people and goods in and out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip, in particular, has been subject to a land, sea, and air blockade, severely limiting the flow of goods and people. This has resulted in shortages of essential supplies, limited access to healthcare, and high levels of unemployment and poverty among Palestinians in Gaza. Israel justifies these measures as necessary for security, but critics argue that they amount to collective punishment and infringe on Palestinian rights.

Impact on Palestinian Society

The Israeli government's policies and practices have had a profound impact on Palestinian society. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip face challenges in accessing basic necessities such as clean water, electricity, healthcare, and education. The restrictions on movement and economic opportunities have led to high unemployment rates and poverty. The constant presence of Israeli military forces and settlements also affects the psychological well-being of Palestinians, with high levels of trauma and stress reported.

International Reactions and Criticism

The Israeli government's treatment of Palestinian citizens of Israel

Israel's treatment of Palestinian citizens of Israel is characterised by institutional discrimination, which limits their rights in all areas of life, from citizenship rights to the right to political participation, land and housing rights, education rights, cultural and language rights, religious rights, and due process rights during detention.

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about 19% of the population. They face many forms of institutional discrimination, including in 2018, when discrimination against Palestinians was crystallised in a constitutional law which, for the first time, enshrined Israel exclusively as the "nation-state of the Jewish people". The law also promotes the building of Jewish settlements and downgrades Arabic's status as an official language.

Palestinian citizens of Israel are denied a nationality, establishing a legal differentiation from Jewish Israelis. They are also denied the right to free movement and residency, with many being internally displaced.

Israeli authorities treat Palestinians as an inferior racial group who are defined by their non-Jewish, Arab status. This racial discrimination is cemented in laws which affect Palestinians across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

Palestinian citizens of Israel face many forms of institutional discrimination. In 2018, discrimination against Palestinians was crystallised in a constitutional law which, for the first time, enshrined Israel exclusively as the "nation-state of the Jewish people". The law also promotes the building of Jewish settlements and downgrades Arabic's status as an official language.

Israeli authorities have also made it virtually impossible for tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins living in the Negev region to live lawfully in the communities they have lived in for decades. Instead, authorities have sought to concentrate Bedouin communities in larger recognised townships in order to maximise the land available for Jewish communities.

Israeli authorities have also imposed discriminatory restrictions on the rights to residency and nationality to varying degrees in the OPT and Israel. Israeli authorities have used their control over the population registry in the West Bank and Gaza—the list of Palestinians they consider lawful residents for purposes of issuing legal status and identity cards—to deny residency to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Israeli authorities have pursued an intent to maintain the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians across Israel and the OPT. In the OPT, including East Jerusalem, that intent has been coupled with systematic oppression of Palestinians and inhumane acts committed against them. When these three elements occur together, they amount to the crime of apartheid.

The Israeli government's treatment of Palestinian refugees

The Palestinian right of return is a political principle that asserts that these refugees and their descendants have a right to return to their original homes and reclaim their properties in what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories. This right was first formulated by United Nations mediator Folke Bernadotte in June 1948 and was recognised by the UN General Assembly in December of that year. However, the exact meaning and timing of the resolution have been disputed ever since.

Israel has consistently rejected the idea that Palestinians have an inherent right of return. The Israeli government maintains that a solution to the refugee problem should be sought through the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in other states, rather than allowing them to return to Israel. Successive Israeli governments have created and maintained a system of laws, policies, and practices designed to oppress and dominate Palestinians, with the intent of privileging Jewish Israelis at the expense of Palestinians. This system has resulted in the fragmentation, dispossession, repression of dissent, and killings and injuries of Palestinians.

One of the main strategies employed by Israel to achieve this dominance is the dispossession of land and property. Since 1948, Israel has enforced massive land seizures to dispossess Palestinians of their land and homes. This has resulted in millions of Palestinians being displaced and continuing to live as refugees in neighbouring countries. Israel has also enacted discriminatory laws and policies that disrupt family life for Palestinians, such as prohibiting Palestinians from gaining residency or citizenship through marriage.

Another strategy used by Israel is segregation and control. Palestinian citizens are denied their rights to equal nationality and status, while those in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) face severe restrictions on freedom of movement. Israel has also established Jewish-only settlements in the OPT, which are considered illegal under international law.

The deliberate impoverishment of Palestinians is another tactic used by Israel to maintain control. Decades of discriminatory allocation of resources have marginalised and economically disadvantaged Palestinians in Israel and the OPT. Palestinian communities lack access to essential services such as garbage collection, electricity, public transportation, and water and sanitation infrastructure. They also face restrictions on their access to and use of natural resources, further exacerbating their poverty.

The Israeli government's treatment of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem

Israeli authorities have used discriminatory laws and policies to separate Palestinians from their families. Since 2002, Israel has adopted a policy of prohibiting Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza from gaining status in Israel or East Jerusalem through marriage, thus preventing family unification. This policy has forced thousands of Palestinians to live apart from their loved ones, while others are forced to go abroad or live in constant fear of being arrested, expelled or deported.

Israeli authorities have also denied residency rights to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and their relatives for being abroad when the occupation began in 1967, or for long periods during the first few decades of the occupation, or as a result of the effective freeze on family reunification over the last two decades.

Israeli authorities have also made it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits in East Jerusalem and in the 60% of the West Bank under its exclusive control (Area C). Between 2009 and 2020, Israeli authorities demolished 7,118 structures in East Jerusalem and Area C, displacing 10,493 people, according to OCHA. B'Tselem documented that Israeli authorities fully demolished in this period 2,319 homes throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for lacking a building permit, leaving 9,053 people displaced.

Israeli authorities have also imposed sweeping restrictions on the ability of the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza to leave that territory and sharply restricted the movement of 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank, both within that territory and beyond.

Israeli authorities have also denied residency rights to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and left many without nationality. Since its annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, it has applied its 1952 Law of Entry to Palestinians from there and designated them as "permanent residents", the same status afforded to a non-Jewish foreigner who moves to Israel. The Interior Ministry has revoked this status from at least 14,701 Palestinians since 1967, mostly for failing to prove a "center of life" in the city.

The Israeli government's treatment of Palestinian workers

Palestinian workers in Israel include Palestinian citizens of the Palestinian Authority who are employed by Israeli citizens within Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These workers typically take on unskilled labour roles in sectors such as agriculture, construction, and cleaning. The influx of Palestinian workers after the Six-Day War significantly impacted the Israeli economy, leading to a drop in average wages and workforce productivity due to the abundance of cheap manual labour.

Over the years, there have been concerns about the exploitation of Palestinian workers, especially given the presence of illegal workers and their unskilled status. The tension between Israel and Palestine, including the First Intifada, also resulted in restrictions on Palestinians' freedom of movement, impacting their employment.

In recent years, the number of Palestinian workers in Israel has been significant. In 2022, there were plans to increase work permits from Gaza to 20,000, and as of 2023, approximately 150,000 Palestinians worked in Israel. However, the 2023 Israel-Hamas war has likely impacted this situation.

The treatment of Palestinian workers has come under increased scrutiny during and after the 2023 conflict. In 2024, global trade unions filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization (ILO) against Israel, alleging breaches of a global treaty in its treatment of Palestinian workers since the war began. The complaint focuses on the exclusion of around 200,000 Palestinian migrant workers on security grounds, as well as claims of unpaid wages and compensation. Israel has blamed Hamas for the situation, arguing that the group targeted commuter routes during the attacks.

The issue of Palestinian workers is part of a broader context of Israeli-Palestinian relations and the ongoing conflict. There have been longstanding criticisms of Israel's conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories, with the International Court of Justice declaring in 2024 that Israel's occupation was illegal and should end. Additionally, Israel has been accused of enacting discriminatory laws that directly or indirectly affect Palestinian citizens, impacting various aspects of their lives, including citizenship rights, political participation, land and housing rights, and education.

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