An appeal has been filed at the Court for Administrative
Affairs of Jerusalem demanding that the Ministry of Housing
and Construction cancel the decision of the Tender Committee
against the Israel Land Administration which retroactively
canceled a tender for the acquisition of lands for "do-it-
yourself" building (Bnei Beisecha) in the Ramat Beit Shemesh
Gimmel Shachar neighborhood.
As reported by Yated Ne'eman, the Shachar
neighborhood, to be built under the Bnei Beisecha program,
was planned to include more than 2000 dwelling units and was
originally targeted for the general public. Scores of
chareidi families participated in the tender because of the
attractive conditions offered, and the proximity of the
neighborhood to existing chareidi communities. Many
chareidim won in the tender, surprising the local council
and other parties.
As a result, top ranking officials in the Building and
Construction Ministry asked the Attorney General for an
opinion allowing them to invalidate the tender. The Attorney
General determined it was indeed possible to make an
exception in this case and to cancel the tender.
The decision of the Attorney General was in light of the
claim of the director of the Housing Ministry, that since
not all of the apartments in the neighborhoods already
allocated as religious and chareidi in Ramat Beit Shemesh
Alef have been sold, if another such neighborhood is built
in the Shachar area, many of the apartments in the older
neighborhoods will not be sold, causing a financial loss to
their contractors. In addition, an influx of chareidim into
the Shachar neighborhood would cause secular families who
had purchased homes there to move away, and they would be
unable to sell their apartments to the general public.
The Attorney General's decision aroused considerable anger
among the many winners in the tender. Sixteen of the winners
decided to appeal to the court in Jerusalem through Attorney
Rabbi Mordechai Green, an expert in land and contract law.
In his appeal, Rabbi Green argued that the ex post
facto cancellation of the tender was illegal:
perpetrated out of external considerations and a general
undermining of all of the rules of justice, sound procedure
and principles of equality. The appeal stated that the only
purpose of the cancellation was, "to discriminate against
Torah observant Jews as opposed to other citizens, when the
Housing Ministry, for its own reasons, decided not to enable
chareidim to build do-it-yourself homes, while
discriminating against them and setting them apart from
other residents of the State in an offensive and
inappropriate manner.
"The true basis of the decision of the Tender Committee is
to prevent mitzvah- observant Jews from winning in the
tender. This basis is inappropriate, offensive, and
constitutes an undermining of the principle of equality. Its
purpose, which is to create a chareidi-free area is,
regretfully, reminiscent of decisions by regimes in other
countries during dark eras," the appeal further states. The
petitioners also claim that, "the reasons given by the
various elements for cancellation of the tender are
partially false (such as the one stating that `contracts
still hadn't been signed'). Some of them were made on the
basis of claims which were not verified."
The petitioners also claim that, "the decision of the Tender
Committee deciding to cancel the tender is null and void,
and lacks any validity, since the factual data presented to
the committee by the Director of the Housing Ministry was
inadequate, incorrect and unverified. In addition, the
Committee made the decision before a panel without a quorum
and different from the composition of the original
committee."
The petitioners are demanding that the agreements that have
already been signed between the Israel Land Administration
and purchasers of the land be honored. The claim that some
of the winners in the tender already paid hundreds of
thousands of shekels to the Administration proves that the
intention of the Housing Ministry was to continue with
procedures, and that the decision of the Tender Committee,
accepted with the backing of the Attorney General at the
request of the Director General of the Housing Committee,
was made only after it had been made clear that the majority
of the winners in the tender were Torah observant.
The petitioners also demand the issue of a conditional order
against the Attorney General, with the demand that he show
the petitioners his original statement of opinion on the
issue of cancellation of the tender. They also demand that
the court determine whether the Attorney General erred when
he advised the Housing Ministry that they may invalidate the
tender, and that his advice was given on the basis of
erroneous information.
The Court for Administrative Issues has decided to issue an
order preventing the Housing Ministry and the Israel Land
Administration from offering the land in the Shachar
neighborhood in any new tender until a decision with respect
to the petitions is made.
The following is the reaction of the spokesman of the
Housing Ministry: "Since the issue is under judicial review,
we will convey our reaction to the court."
