Mandelblit Says Regulation Law Must Be Repealed

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has more than made good on his warning that he would not be able to defend the Regulation Law in the High Court, as he sent a letter to the justices on Tuesday saying it must be struck down as unconstitutional.

In a letter to the Court, Mandelblit wrote that “there is no escape from the judicial declaration that the Regulation Law is an unconstitutional law, which is null and void,” according to The Times of Israel.

The legislation would allow the state to expropriate private Palestinian land where approximately 4,000 Jewish homes have been built, provided that they were established “in good faith” or had government support, and that the Palestinian owners receive 125 percent financial compensation for the land.

The Regulation Law was passed by the Knesset in March 2017, but was subsequently frozen by the High Court after left-wing NGOs and Palestinian local councils petitioned to void it. Hearings on the case have been continuing since, but legal analysts expect that the law will not be allowed to stand, at least not in its present form.