Netanyahu and Bennett at Knesset session
Netanyahu and Bennett at Knesset sessionMiriam Alster / Flash 90

A bill protecting thousands of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria from potential ownership claims appears poised to be passed by the Knesset plenum on Monday, after efforts by the Prime Minister to delay the vote failed to garner support from senior Jewish Home officials.

Dubbed the “Regulation Law”, the bill was proposed following the issuance of demolition orders against the homes of 42 families living in the now-demolished community of Amona.

If passed supporters of the bill say the Regulation Law would extend the same protections enjoyed by most towns in Israel to those communities over the Green Line which lack a formal town layout plan. That has left thousands of homes across Judea and Samaria exposed to demolition whenever allegations of ownership by absentee landowners are made.

The Regulation Law would offer claimants with evidence of ownership compensation amounting to 125% of the value of the land prior to improvements made on the property.

While the bill enjoys wide support among the Jewish Home and Likud parties, members of the Kulanu party expressed reservations about the proposed law, and opposed a version of the bill which would have retroactively normalized Amona, preventing its destruction last week.

Some of the bill’s backers have called for it to be used to normalize nine homes in the town of Ofra, which are slated for demolition. Thousands rallied in Ofra on Sunday to protest the evacuation order and to demand a solution be found for the homes.

The bill is expected to pass, after Kulanu members resolved to back the bill in keeping with the coalition’s decision to support the legislation.

But MK Roy Folkman emphasized that his party’s backing for the bill was conditioned on the absence of ‘Clause 7’, which would retroactively apply the law to homes which the Supreme Court has already ruled must be evacuated.