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Part of the ILA’s land was expropriated from its Arab owners in 1948. MK Zahalka claims that “the reform
allows selling the property of absentee landlords,” and that “selling these lands is against the law.” Zahalka
warned that if the expropriated land is not be used for its current purpose, but is instead
sold, he will petition the Supreme Court to cancel the expropriation and return the land to
its original owners.
Zahalka also protested the deal between JNF and the State of Israel, which allows
transferring JNF-owned land in the center of Israel to the State, and in return for the JNF
to receive land in the Negev and the Galil. ILA director general Yaron Bibi claimed that
according the agreement, the land swap will include only land owned by the State of Israel, and not land
having ownership disputes or land that occupied by Bedouins.

Uri Bank, a member of JNF directorate, stated that the directorate did not receive maps of the land that will
be given to the JNF. In response, Zahalka demanded to see the land under discussion, and to have a proper
and transparent conversation about it. He added that even if none of the lands transferred to the JNF have
ownership disputes, the JNF will not allow the expansion of its neighboring Arab towns.

This land was made for you and me
By Alon Tal, July 24, 2009, Haaretz
On Wednesday, the government suffered a temporary setback in the battle it is waging in the Knesset to
allow the privatization of national lands. Many consider it to be a clash over the very soul - and heartlands -
of this country. The prime minister, determined not to be caught by surprise at next week's decisive vote, is
mercilessly twisting his coalition members' arms as he continues his obsessive march toward privatization.
Sadly, the gallant struggle to preserve public land ownership in Israel may be lost.

Because of the complexity of Israel's land laws and policies, the public cannot be blamed if it has failed to
grasp the enormous ramifications of the so-called "land reform" bill. So it is important to establish what the
debate is about.

"The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land belongs to Me, for you are strangers and [temporary]
residents." From its inception, the Zionist movement adopted this traditional Jewish land ethic, from
Leviticus 25. The social message was powerful: A Jewish state would not suffer the kind of injustices,
inequality and exploitation historically associated with unrestrained landownership and real estate barons.
Environmentally, public ownership has been the key to balancing development and preservation interests.
Accordingly, public title to 92 percent of the countryside and the state's 49-year land leases to individuals
are the building blocks of Israel's land management. Based on the model of the Biblical jubilee year, leases
are designed to ensure that the government's Lands Administration remains the ultimate owner of the soil,
and that the public is the beneficiary of the windfall profits that come from mounting demand for our very
finite common property. The government has insouciantly held that this policy is antiquated and irrelevant,
ignoring evidence that reform will exacerbate the growing gap between "rich" and "poor."

It should be emphasized that in no way is the proposed reform about apartment owners' ability to "close off
a balcony" without having to suffer the delays of the ILA bureaucracy. Reforms were passed long ago easing
the circuitous procedures for such cosmetic modifications, as well as many other historic indignities
associated with leased land. Similarly, residents of urban apartments on state-owned land can already
purchase their homes. The proposed legislation, however, launches a new real estate sweepstakes that