The Palestinian Authority is stepping up its efforts to fight the sale of land to Jews, with a new legislative order requiring all real estate transactions by Arabs holding Israeli identification cards, including rental, leasing, purchases and sales, to receive approval of the Palestinian Security Service and the PA’s “Preventive Security Force.”

Yesterday (Thursday), Regavim exposed the document, signed by PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, which stipulates that permits for rental or purchase of property will be issued contingent on the approval of the Palestinian Security Service.

This new regulation aims to prevent the purchase of buildings and properties by Jews in East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, transactions often carried out through third parties.

“Anyone interested in renting or selling a property to a Palestinian who holds an Israeli identification card submit an application for approval of the transaction to the local authority with jurisdiction over the area in question,” reads the executive order signed last week. “If the property is located outside the jurisdiction of the local municipal authority, approval for the transaction must be obtained from the local authority’s directorate.”

According to the new directive, “The General Intelligence Service and the Preventive Security Force will conduct the necessary security checks and will submit their recommendation within two weeks of receipt of the permit application.”

Hamdallah’s new directive further states that decisions of the security apparatus are final and are not subject to review or appeal, and “any objections or decisions contrary to this decision are null and void.”

The recent order is the latest in the series of racist decisions taken by the Palestinian Authority, all of which are aimed at preventing the sale of property in Judea and Samaria, as well as in East Jerusalem, to Jews.

Yishai Hemo, Regavim’s Field Coordinator for Judea and Samaria: “Recently there has been a significant increase in the severity of the tactics employed by the Palestinian Authority regarding the sale of property to Jews, including a life sentence of hard labor for Issam ‘Akel, a resident of Israel and American citizen charged with selling a house to Jews in East Jerusalem, and the murder of a real estate broker from Jaljuliya – an unsolved murder that bears unmistakable fingerprints leading back to the Palestinian Authority.”

“There is no other place in the world that has legislated a death sentence for the ‘crime’ of selling property to Jews,” adds Hemo. “The Israeli government must take action, and use all the tools at its disposal to stop this deterioration. There is a moral imperative at stake: We cannot accept this sort of racism. But beyond the underlying moral issue, Israel must respond by removing the self-imposed obstacles that currently exist, and allow any and every citizen of Israel to buy and sell property, as they can throughout the rest of Israel and the world.”

Source:https://www.jns.org/feed/