Daijiworld Media Network – Jerusalem
Jerusalem, May 13: A controversial bill proposing the creation of a new civilian authority to oversee antiquities and heritage sites in the West Bank passed its first reading in the Israeli Knesset overnight between Monday and Tuesday.
The bill was approved with 23 lawmakers voting in favour and 14 opposing it. It will now return to the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee for further discussions before being brought back for its second and third readings required for it to become law.
The proposed legislation, introduced by Likud MK Amit Halevi, seeks to establish a “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority” under Israel’s Heritage Ministry, functioning in a manner similar to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
The authority would oversee the preservation, management and development of archaeological and heritage sites across the West Bank and would receive a dedicated budget through the Heritage Ministry.
The West Bank is home to more than 2,600 archaeological and heritage sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea, Sebastia — the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel — and several important Christian and Muslim heritage locations such as the Church of the Nativity.
If approved, the bill would transfer responsibility for these sites from the Defence Ministry’s Civil Administration Archaeology Unit, operating under COGAT, to the newly proposed authority.
Currently, the Archaeology Unit is responsible for preserving sites, preventing looting and smuggling of antiquities, and regulating excavations in the West Bank. The new authority would also gain powers to acquire or expropriate land deemed necessary for preservation efforts.
Under the Oslo Accords, Israel exercises full civil and military control only in Area C of the West Bank, while civil governance in Areas A and B falls under the Palestinian Authority, including cultural and heritage oversight.
Supporters of the bill argue that stronger oversight is necessary to protect historical and archaeological sites from damage and neglect.
“This is one of the most important laws for me to advance,” committee chairman MK Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionist Party had said earlier this year, warning that Jewish heritage sites were being neglected and vandalised.
Critics, however, argue that the legislation represents another step toward the annexation of the West Bank and would extend Israeli governance deeper into occupied territories.
Knesset legal adviser Tami Sella had earlier warned that Israeli legislation had never previously granted such direct administrative responsibility over the West Bank to a civilian government body.
Opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv also criticised the proposal, claiming archaeology was being used “as a tool to take over land and expel Palestinians from their homes.”