After declaring last week that Jewish National Fund lands should be made available to Arabs, Attorney-General Mazuz has now taken another step in the same direction.

Mazuz said that the law regarding absentee-owner property does not apply to all of Jerusalem.

Several days ago it was learned that a ministerial committee had decided that the Absentee Property Law applies to eastern Jerusalem, just as it does to the rest of the country. The law, legislated in 1950, states that land owned by people who, during the War of Independence, "were in any part of the Land of Israel that is outside the territory of Israel" - Judea, Samaria or Gaza, for all intents and purposes – is transferred to the Custodian of Absentee Property, and from there to the State of Israel.

Several months ago, on July 8, 2004, a ministerial committee convened and resolved to "remove all doubt" that the law applies to eastern Jerusalem. The decision ascertained that Israel´s relevant bodies could "transfer, sell or lease real estate property in eastern Jerusalem."

Previous governments made sure not to implement this law in eastern Jerusalem. Minister Natan Sharansky and then-Minister Zevulun Orlev, however – the only ministers present at the July committee meeting, though representatives of other ministries, as well as of the Attorney-General´s office, were present – overturned this policy.

When news of the decision became known on Jan. 20 following a Haaretz newspaper story, a lawyer representing local Arabs appealed to Attorney-General Mazuz to overturn the policy. Mazuz´s first response was that he knew nothing of the Cabinet decision, and that he would issue a response shortly. He did so this morning, informing the government that the status quo ante was being re-instituted. He explained that the decision to apply the law to eastern Jerusalem was unjust, and that Israel´s international image was at stake.

An unknown number of thousands of dunams (quarter-acres) owned by Arab residents of Judea and Samaria are at issue.

Orlev, now a regular MK of the National Religious Party after having resigned from the government two months ago over the disengagement plan, explained to Arutz-7 today, "Just like the law applies to lands outside Tel Aviv, it similarly applies to eastern Jerusalem – there is no difference... When we convened as the ministerial committee, we dealt only with procedural issues, such as cutting down on the necessity for permits; instead of the Attorney-General´s permit, which takes up to a year to receive, we determined that a permit from the Finance Ministry´s legal counsel would suffice."

Orlev said he is proud of the role he had in strengthening Jewish Jerusalem: "I don´t understand the Attorney-General; he is not above the law. He has apparently decided to divide Jerusalem, because he´s saying that the law applies everywhere except for eastern Jerusalem. There can´t be any difference between the Arabs who left in 1948 or 1967. This decision is truly like a national suicide of the Jewish State - just like his decision of a few days ago to take Jewish National Fund lands and allow them to be given to Arabs."

Orlev said that he is looking into what can be done to offset Mazuz´s decision, but he did not sound very confident: "What, do you think I can file suit in the Supreme Court against the Attorney-General? They´ve all studied together with him, and their positions on Jewish issues such as this one are well-known. Very sadly, even though it seems to be an open-and-shut case of applying the law equally, I have to say that I have no trust in the Supreme Court on issues such as this one." (IsraelNationalNews © 02/01/05)