Israel Land Authority (ILA; he, רשות מקרקעי ישראל; ar, سلطة أراضي إسرائيل; "Raeshoot Mekarka'ei Yisrael") is a governmental body created as a part of a reform of the
Israel Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration (ILA; he, מנהל מקרקעי ישראל, Minhal Mekarka'ei Yisra'el; ar, مديرية أراضي اسرائيل) is an Israeli government authority responsible for managing land in Israel which is in the public d ...
. After all the organizational changes and staff rearrangements it will replace the Israel Land Administration.
History
"The
Basic Law: Israel Lands" establishes the principle that Israel Lands are nationally owned, and they can only be leased, not sold. Thus, land buyers are granted only lessee's rights, formally not full ownership rights. Based on this law and several other laws, the Israel Land Administration was created in 1960. It's an organization supervising the proper use of lands in the public domain and managing some 93% of Israeli lands.
Starting from the beginning of the 2000s there has been an ongoing debate including governmental officials whether different issues arising from the national ownership of the land can be solved. On July 12, 2003 and on February 4, 2004 the
Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee met as the committee for the Constitution by Broad Consensus to discuss this problem.
[Israel Land Authority](_blank)
Debate
Several academic experts have challenged the necessity to keep 93% of public lands owned by the state, Professor Hanoch Dagan of
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
and Professor Rachelle Alterman of
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology among them. They noted that the law allows certain exceptions to the prohibition on selling state lands and suggested that there is no need in changing (constitutional) basic laws – these exceptions could be broadened by ordinary legislation.
According to Professor Joshua Weisman of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
a leaser's rights are equal to that of the owner. This is because:
# The leases granted by the Israel Lands Authority are long-term – usually two terms of 49 years.
# The amount paid for leases is very close to the market price for full ownership.
# The state does not actually repossess its land when the leases run out.
He also believes that the main principle of the Basic Law: Israel Lands should remain unchanged since it is one of the fundamental features of the Israeli legal system. Another reason is that Israel is a small country with limited land reserves.
Land reform
Influenced by this debate, in April 2009
Israeli Ministry of Finance has issued a paper offering basic reforms for Israeli economy in 2009-2010. It recommended “to pass the law on the land ownership to let all lessees holding lease contracts for housing and employment (gain full ownership rights).” It was suggested to create a new government agency for this purpose – Israel Land Authority. The reform should start from urban lands, but some parts of this paper also noted the importance of privatizing agricultural lands. Financial experts of the ministry saw Israel Land Administration is the main impediment for the economic development of the state since main economic activities depend upon the flexibility of the land reserves.
These changes were implemented in the Arrangements Law of 2009 including a section called “Israel Lands Reform”. This reform was a part of the privatization process of the ILA and it was heavily criticized by the public.
Reform's components
# Granting ownership rights to leaseholders of real estate designated for residence and employment on the urban lands;
# Comprehensive internal organizational change of the Israel Land Administration and turning it into the Israel Land Authority.
Reform's objectives
* Reducing the number of bureaucratic impediments and lowering the costs for housing and small business owners - ownership rights granted will reduce the dependence of land owners from the ILA;
* Increasing the stock of land for construction;
* Focusing on reaching ILA's objectives - the reduced number of leaseholders will reduce the number of clients for treatment and it will help concentrate on other important issues;
* Environment protection and the protection of open-spaced territories through the construction densification and maintaining underdeveloped land reserves for the future generations;
* Giving benefit for the middle class and lower - granting ownership rights for free to the leaseholders in the center of the country and also in the periphery;
* Protecting national interests.
Creation
In August 2009, the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
passed an Israel Land Authority Law that allows people to own land property in Israel, rather than lease it. According to the law, land privatization will be divided into two steps, with a team of ministers examining the reform. As a part of the same legislature and as a part of the land reform Israeli Land Authority was created.
Under the reform some 200,000 acres of state-owned land, comprising 4% of total Israeli lands, will be sold to private buyers, including homeowners, developers and kibbutzim. It will speed development plans, bring more housing quickly to market and thus help reduce soaring housing prices and boost Israeli economy. Municipalities will gain more power in land allocation and development.
According to the official governmental press-release, "The reforms are designed to reduce bureaucratic impediments for homeowners who wish to enlarge their homes and the involvement of the Government in the real estate market, and enable the ILA to focus on developing and marketing state lands, as opposed to dealing with leased residential units." The reforms are meant to offer a greater supply of residential units that would cause housing prices to decline.
Upon the agreement reached after negotiations were held between
ILA management,
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
and
Trade unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
, some 200 of ILA staff will leave their job voluntarily, as for the rest they will be embedded in the structure of a new Israel Land Authority organization.
Israel Land Authority’s objectives
According to the Amendment 7 (2009) of the Israel Land Administration Law (1960), ILA’s objectives are as follows.
* Managing Israeli lands as a resource for development of the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in the interest of the public, environment and for the future generations, leaving sufficient land reserves for this purpose and for the development of the country in the future, with a proper balance between the needs in conservation for development and the marketing of land to maintain land reserves for public purposes.
* Promoting competition in the land market and preventing
concentration of land holdings
Israel Land Authority’s functions
According to the Amendment 7 (2009) of the Israel Land Administration Law (1960), ILA’s functions are as follows.
* Allocation of land for housing, affordable housing, public housing, employment, open space allotments and for other purposes in locations and amounts required for the needs of economy, society and environment, including future needs;
* Land acquisition and land expropriation for the state according to the law, primarily for environmental purposes;
* Protection of rights of land owners in Israel;
* Promotion of registration of real estate rights in the Land books of Israel;
* Provision of services to the landholders in Israel as required for management and implementation of their rights;
* Publication of information about Israeli lands, including details on agreements made by the Authority regarding lands it manages, and data on the availability of planned Israeli lands for development and maintenance of open space territory;
* Any other function related to the Israel land management imposed upon it by law or by any governmental decision.
Structure
Israel Land Authority is headed by ILA's CEO appointed by prime minister and other ministers for a 5-year cadence. The current CEO (starting from September 2011) is Bentzi Lieberman. CEO is subject to
Housing and Construction Minister, while ILA's staff are state employees. The Israel Land Council sets policy for the Israel Land Authority.
On January 21, 2013 prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
has appointed former
Communications
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
and
Welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
Minister
Moshe Kahlon
Moshe Kahlon ( he, מֹשֶׁה כַּחְלוֹן, born 19 November 1960) is a retired Israeli politician. Between 2003 and 2013 he served as a member of the Knesset for Likud, and as Minister of Communications and Minister of Welfare & Social ...
as a new ILA chairman.
[Zvi Zrahia, Nimrod Bousso]
Netanyahu taps popular Likud ex-minister to head Israel Land Administration
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
, January 21, 2013
The structure of the ILA consists of headquarters and three divisions:
* Business division responsible for marketing and real estate operations;
* Land maintenance division for supervision and enforcement of State's right for the land;
* Service division providing services to those engaged in valid contracts with Israel Land Administration.
Supervision over ILA's activities
According to the Amendment 7 (2009) of the Israel Land Administration Law (1960), Israel Land Council will be formed by the government. This Council will shape the land policies of the Israel Land Authority, oversee its activities and approve its proposed budget determined by the law. ILA manager will present a detailed report on the organization's activities to the Israel Land Council twice a year. The government will also present a report to the Economical Affairs Committee of the Knesset at least once a year. Israel Land Council will be headed by the minister and it will have 13 more members chosen by the government, 7 of them from the government and 6 from
KKL.
See also
*
Israel Land Administration
The Israel Land Administration (ILA; he, מנהל מקרקעי ישראל, Minhal Mekarka'ei Yisra'el; ar, مديرية أراضي اسرائيل) is an Israeli government authority responsible for managing land in Israel which is in the public d ...
*
Israeli land and property laws
Land and property laws in Israel are the property law component of Israeli law, providing the legal framework for the ownership and other ''in rem'' rights towards all forms of property in Israel, including real estate (land) and movable property. ...
*
Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
References
{{authority control
Government agencies of Israel
Government agencies established in 1960
Land management in Israel