A panel of Supreme Court justices has rejected an appeal against the alleged discrimination against residents of Judea and Samaria in the issue of traffic safety.
The panel, which consisted of Justices Anat Baron, Khaled Kabub, and Yechiel Kasher, wrote in their opinion that "there is no dispute that the principle of equality is a fundamental principle in Israeli law... but our case does not fall within the scope of equality and discrimination laws, but within the scope of the broad authority of the government, over its affiliates, and the broad discretion of the professionals in the Ministry of Transportation and the National Road Safety Authority in their field of expertise, in all areas regarding the regulation of road safety, the research that is at its foundation and the distribution of social resources in this context."
According to them, the Minister of Transportation "may exercise this authority in accordance with governmental discretion, subject to its limitations."
The judges rejected the claims of the representatives of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria that the funding for a campaign against road accidents that deprioritizes Judea and Samaria was wrong and accepted the position of the National Road Safety Authority. "The government, with its authorized powers, has the prerogative to determine how the funding is calculated, including setting professional criteria."
The petition was launched after the government released its plan for combating traffic accidents which ranked the Judea and Samaria region in ninth place out of eleven on the list of regions with the highest priority to receive funding to deal with the issue/ This is despite the high number of traffic accidents and resulting fatalities in Judea and Samaria.