Einat Korman
Einat KormanPR

Attorney Einat Korman, the deputy director of the Legal Forum for Israel, attended the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War.

Korman was surprised to hear from ministers Ayelet Shaked and Yariv Levin that the Bags Law is an example of the rapid application of debts and obligations to residents of Judea and Samaria as opposed to rights.

Korman immediately checked the records and discovered that the law did not apply in Judea and Samaria. She informed the ministers of their mistake.

Six months ago, when the law came into force, the Legal Forum revealed that the law did not apply lawfully in Judea and Samaria according to a military order. Following the exposure, the Environmental Protection Ministry admitted that the law did not apply to the Green Line and that it would be applied within a month.

Since then, however, no change has been made and some large marketing chains do not charge the residents of Judea and Samaria the ten agorot (about 3 cents) required for a bag. Others, however, including the Victory supermarket chain, have still been collecting the tax.

This week, in a discussion on comparing legislation in Judea and Samaria, Justice Minister Shaked said that "there is no doubt that the lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria should be exactly like the lives of the rest of the State of Israel." Shaked's remarks and Minister Levin's remarks implied that the Bags Law also came into force in Judea and Samaria according to a military order.

An investigation conducted by the Legal Forum for Israel revealed that there is no standard publication of the Bags Law in the official database in Judea and Samaria that appears on the Judge Advocate General's website, despite the fact that every law or order is obligated to be published publicly in Reshumot.

The Legal Forum sent a letter to the Deputy Minister of Defense, Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, demanding that the application of the Bags Law be implemented in Judea and Samaria and that the request be amended to the site of the Judge Advocate General's Office.

The members of the forum say that the fact that there is no mention of the implementation of the law in Judea and Samaria indicates the difficulty that residents of Judea and Samaria have to know which laws apply to them and which are not.

Korman said that the Judea and Samaria Legal Advisor, who is in charge of legislation in Judea and Samaria, apparently misled the ministers.

"The bags bill that was raised in the House Committee as an example of the enactment of quick legislation - was not applied at all in Judea and Samaria. There is a duty to publish the law according to the principle of administrative law and public law, but this is not done.Therefore, even if the work of the staff to formulate the law in Judea and Samaria is completed, without its publication as required - the law does not apply," she emphasized.