1. The Israel Land Administration Law (2009): Institutes broad land privatization (much of the land owned by the Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons would be subject to privatization under the law); permits land exchanges between the state and the JNF, the land of which is exclusively reserved for the Jewish people; allows lands to be allocated in accordance with “admissions committee” mechanisms and only to candidates approved by Zionist institutions working solely on behalf of the Jewish people; and grants decisive weight to JNF representatives in a new Land Authority Council, which would replace the ILA.

2. Amendment (2010) to The Land (Acquisition for Public Purposes) Ordinance (1943): This Mandate-era law authorizes the Finance Minster to confiscate land for “public purposes,” leaving the definition of such purposes to the absolute discretion of the Finance Minister. It has been used extensively by the state to confiscate Palestinian land. The amendment confirms state ownership of land confiscated under this law, even where it has not been used to serve the original purpose of its confiscation. It authorizes the state not to use the confiscated land for the original confiscation purpose for 17 years, and denies landowners the right to demand the return of confiscated land not used for the original confiscation purpose if ownership has been transferred to a third party, or if more than 25 years have passed since the confiscation. The amendment expands the Finance Minister’s authority to confiscate land for “public purposes,” which, according to the new law, includes the establishment and expansion or development of towns, and allows the Minister to declare a new purpose if the initial purpose has not been realized.  

3. Amendment No. 9 (Authority for Revoking Citizenship) (2008) to article 11 of the Citizenship Law (1952) revokes citizenship due to “breach of trust or disloyalty to the state”. “Breach of trust” is broadly defined and even includes the act of naturalization or obtaining permanent residency status in one of nine Arab and Muslim states which are listed by the law, and the Gaza Strip. Allows for the revocation of citizenship without requiring a criminal conviction.

4. The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) (2003): Bans family unification where one spouse is an Israeli citizen (in practice almost all of whom are Palestinian citizens) and the other a resident of the OPT (excluding Jewish settler living in the OPT). Minor exceptions to the ban were introduced in 2005, which did not diminish the discriminatory nature of the law. An additional amendment in 2007 expanded the ban to include citizens and residents of Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. In accordance with the law, a cabinet decision added further restrictions in 2008 affecting residents of the Gaza Strip. Although the law was originally enacted as a temporary order, its validity has been repeatedly extended by the Knesset making it in effect a permanent law. Thousands of Palestinian families have been affected by the law, forced to split apart, move abroad or live in Israel in fear of constant deportation.

7. Absorption of Discharged Soldiers Law (1994) Amendment No. 7: Benefits for Discharged Soldiers (2008): Allows the use of military/national service as a criterion for the allocation of benefits in higher education. The vast majority of Palestinian citizens of Israel are exempted from military service and do not serve in the Israeli army for political and historical reasons. Grants broad discretion to higher education institutions to award economic benefits to discharged soldiers beyond those provided to them under any other law.

8. The Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Implementing the Economic Plan for 2009-2010) (2009).

a. A section of this law concerns "National Priority Areas" (NPAs). It grants the government sweeping discretion to classify towns, villages and areas as NPAs and to allocate enormous state resources without criteria, in contradiction to the Israeli Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in HCJ 2773/98 and HCJ 11163/03, The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel v. The Prime Minister of Israel.  This decision ruled unconstitutional a government decision from 1998 which classified 553 Jewish towns as NPAs and only 4 small Arab villages as such.
b. A further section of this law concerns the distribution of "child allowances". Under the new law, children who do not receive the vaccinations recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH) will no longer be provided with financial support. This provision mainly affects Arab Bedouin children living in the Naqab (Negev), since most of the children who do not receive the vaccinations come from this group. Thus, the provision discriminates against them on the basis of their national belonging. To note, that the MOH recently closed down "mother and child" clinics in three Arab Bedouin towns which provide these vaccinations.

Criminal Procedure

9. Criminal Procedure (Detainee Suspected of Security Offence) (Temporary Provision) Law 2006: Removes a number of essential procedural safeguards to detainees suspected of security offenses that are provided to criminal suspects. While neutral on its face, in practice the law is used solely against Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of the OPT, who make up the overwhelming majority of detainees classified by Israel as “security” detainees, thus divesting them of judicial procedural safeguards. The law allows for the detention of a security suspect for up to 96 hours before being brought before judge, versus 48 hours in other cases, and for up to 35 days without being indicted, versus 30 days in other cases. It also allows security suspects to be denied access to a lawyer for up to 21 days, versus 48 hours in other cases. Originally passed by the Knesset as a “temporary order” for 18 months, the law was extended in January 2008 for a further three years.

10. Criminal Procedure (Interrogating Suspects) Law 2008: Exempts the police and the Israeli Security Agency from making audio and video documentation of their interrogations of suspects in security offences. Though ostensibly neutral, the law is used exclusively against Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of “security” detainees. This exemption violates the constitutional rights of detainees to equality, dignity and fair legal proceedings, creates conditions that may facilitate the torture of suspects during the interrogation, and it also affects the reliability of the evidence presented before the court against suspects.