Court Refuses to Register Har HaBayis in Land Registry

The High Court has rejected a petition to require that Har HaBayis be registered in the Israel Lands Registry (Tabu). The petition was filed by a group called “Yishai,” which sought to require the government to register the site under its name.

A report in Makor Rishon said the group had for several years tried to advance the petition. According to Israeli law, all property must be registered in the name of an individual or an organization. Har HaBayis has never been registered, and the group filed a request to do so with the surveyors department of the Housing Ministry, which refused to consider the request, citing the “upset to the public order” that the move would likely generate. In addition, the Ministry said, the group had no standing to register the site.

The group decided to file a petition with the High Court, claiming that the Chief Surveyor, who turned down the registration request, did not have authority to do so. According to the petition, the Ministry is obligated to consider technical and legal issues, not political ones. The court agreed with the state’s position that Yishai did not have the authority to file a request, as it had no standing regarding Har HaBayis.