The PA’s Land Apartheid: No Jews Allowed, Israeli Arabs Restricted

The purchase of several properties near Jericho by an Israeli Jewish organization has prompted the Palestinian Authority (PA) to impose new restrictions on land transactions involving Arab citizens and residents of Israel.

The properties, located in Area C of Judea and Samaria under full Israeli civil and security control, are surrounded by Palestinian-owned land. Several Israeli Jewish families recently moved into the newly acquired homes.¹

In response, the PA’s Land Authority issued a decree suspending land-registration transactions involving Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship or residency.

The apparent assumption behind the decree is that the properties acquired by the Jewish organization had previously been owned by Israeli Arabs.

The decision exposes a fundamental contradiction in Palestinian Authority policy. While the PA considers Arab citizens and residents of Israel to be Palestinians, it now treats their Israeli citizenship as grounds for restricting their property transactions.

The decree also reflects a longstanding PA policy that treats the sale of land to Jews as a serious criminal offense, potentially punishable by life imprisonment with hard labor.

Selling Land to Jews: A Crime Punishable by Life Imprisonment

One of the most serious offenses under PA law is selling land to Jews. The PA treats such transactions so severely that, in 2014, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas amended the law to increase the maximum punishment to “life imprisonment with hard labor.” ²

Since the amendment, PA authorities have arrested and prosecuted dozens of people suspected of selling land to Jews.³ One of the most prominent cases involved Issam Akel, who was sentenced in 2018 to life imprisonment with hard labor.⁴ Akel, however, also held U.S. citizenship. Following the intervention of then-U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, he was released after serving only a few months in prison.⁵ Others have not been as fortunate. Palestinians accused of selling land to Jews have also been targeted for murder.⁶

The PA’s latest restrictions on Israeli Arab property transactions represent another dimension of this policy, extending its consequences beyond Palestinians living under PA jurisdiction to Arab citizens and residents of Israel.

Palestinian by Identity, Israeli by Citizenship

The Palestinian Authority generally considers the more than two million Arab citizens and residents of Israel to be Palestinians, regardless of their Israeli citizenship or residency status. In Palestinian political terminology, these individuals are often described as living in the “1948 territories” or the “interior,” rather than in Israel.

This classification extends even to Israeli Arabs who are fully integrated into Israeli public life, including those who have served in the Israel Defense Forces or other Israeli security services, judges in Israeli courts, senior physicians in Israeli hospitals, banking executives, and members of the Knesset.

Some Arab citizens of Israel also identify as Palestinians, and a small number have participated in terrorist attacks motivated by Palestinian nationalism. The PA’s controversial “Pay-for-Slay” prisoner-payment system has included additional payments for eligible Israeli citizens and residents convicted of security offenses.

Yet the PA’s treatment of Israeli Arabs exposes a fundamental contradiction: It claims them as members of the Palestinian people while treating their Israeli citizenship as grounds for restricting their rights.

The PA’s Selective Interpretation of the Oslo Accords

Under the Oslo Accords, the PA does not have criminal jurisdiction over Israelis.⁷ This restriction applies to Israeli citizens and residents, whether Jewish or Arab.

The PA frequently invokes these jurisdictional limitations when accusing Israel of allowing Israelis to enter PA-controlled areas and violate Palestinian laws without facing prosecution.

Yet when Israeli Arab citizens or residents are suspected of selling land to Jews, the PA takes the opposite approach. It asserts criminal jurisdiction over them, arresting and prosecuting suspects despite lacking the authority to do so under the Oslo framework.

In effect, the PA treats Israeli citizenship as a legal barrier when it seeks to hold Israel responsible for alleged offenses, but disregards that same citizenship when it wishes to punish Arabs accused of selling property to Jews.

The latest decree raises a related issue. By restricting land-registration transactions involving Israeli Arabs, the PA is once again distinguishing between Palestinians based on their Israeli legal status, despite claiming that all belong to the same Palestinian people.

Jericho’s Growing Real Estate Market

Jericho has long been a popular winter retreat and vacation destination for wealthy Palestinian families and members of the traditional Palestinian upper class. Its warm climate and proximity to Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley have made it an attractive location for second homes and residential investment.

That appeal continues today. A relatively new neighborhood in the southern part of the city features scores of detached houses, many with private swimming pools.⁸

Arab citizens and residents of Israel, including those who identify primarily as Israelis and those who identify as Palestinians, have also recognized Jericho’s real estate potential. For years, they have purchased properties in the area, contributing to the growth of its residential market.⁹

The recent Jewish property purchases have now placed these longstanding transactions under renewed scrutiny by the Palestinian Authority.

Rather than limiting its response to investigating the specific sales, the PA has introduced a broader restriction affecting Israeli Arab property owners.

The practical effect is to create a separate category of Palestinians whose ability to register land transactions is restricted because they hold Israeli citizenship or residency.

The Contradiction at the Heart of Palestinian Land Policy

The latest decree highlights the contradiction between the PA’s claims of Palestinian national unity and its treatment of Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship or residency.

The PA maintains severe penalties for selling land to Jews, claims jurisdiction over Israeli Arabs when prosecuting alleged land sales, and now restricts land-registration transactions involving those same Israeli Arabs.

The result is a policy under which Israeli Arabs are simultaneously claimed as Palestinians and subjected to restrictions because they are Israelis.

For Israeli Arab property buyers, however, one important distinction remains. In Area C, where Israel exercises civil authority, the PA’s decree does not prevent them from purchasing and registering properties under the applicable Israeli-administered system.

The irony is striking: Israeli Arabs whom the Palestinian Authority claims as part of the Palestinian people may enjoy greater freedom to purchase and register property under Israeli administration than under the authority of the Palestinian government that claims to represent them.

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