by Erez Linn
Not many people are aware of the fact that some Israeli kibbutzim farm their land on Jordanian territory.
When Israel signed a
peace deal with Jordan, certain Israeli communities south of the Sea of
Galilee lost some land because it lay east of the Jordan River, the
internationally recognized border.
Israel withdrew from
the farms and they were placed under Jordanian sovereignty.
Nevertheless, the kibbutzim still enjoy unimpeded access to their
fields, and a special provision was inserted into the annex of the peace
deal guaranteeing that the Israeli farmers retained ownership status
over that area. Basically, that small enclave became yet another
Israeli-held asset abroad.
The kibbutzim continue
to till the land and harvest their crops, and they have almost no
interaction with the Jordanian authorities. The only difference is that
farmers now have to identify themselves to unarmed Jordanian guards when
they cross the river (other Israelis are allowed to visit that special
area only if they are accompanied by one of the farmers). The farmers
still get to decide what to do with their produce and they pay zero
taxes to the Jordanians.
The law mandates a
referendum if the government decides that a certain area should no
longer be subject to Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration. The
words "sovereignty" or "sovereign" are conspicuously absent from the
law.
But, as the Jordan deal
demonstrated, handing over territory to another sovereign power does
not necessarily mean Israel no longer has legal rights there. In fact,
the peace treaty grants Israeli law-enforcement officers express
permission to operate in the above-mentioned farms: Jordan will "permit,
with the minimum of formality, uniformed officers of the Israeli police
force access to the area for the purpose of investigating crime or
dealing with other incidents solely involving the landowners, their
invitees or employees."
My point is that while
Jordan got total sovereignty, Israel still maintained some legal
jurisdiction. This legal arrangement was helped by the fact that Jordan
and Israel had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Israel
hoped this would serve as a precedent in future peace deals; Jordan
wanted Israel to invest in the area. Obviously, relations with the
Palestinians are much more complex.
But if you look at the
language of the referendum law, its applicability does not depend on how
other countries view the areas that are handed over. Only Israeli law
counts. In other words, even if an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal does
not include such a special arrangement on Israeli laws, holding a
referendum would only be necessary if Israel decided it would no longer
have any legal rights in the areas being handed over.
Thus, when the time
comes to hand over territory to the Palestinians as part of a peace
accord, Israeli lawmakers can always claim that Israel has legal, albeit
not sovereign, rights there, regardless of what the peace deal
stipulates. Moreover, let's not forget that in almost every scenario,
Israel would retain certain legal rights because the new Palestinian
state would be a demilitarized state. Such rights could grant Israel
control over Palestinian airspace, veto power over arm shipments and so
forth. There is also talk about allowing Israel a long-term military
presence in the Jordan Valley.
Every peace deal with
the Palestinians (or Syria for that matter) would likely include special
provisions on security and related matters that could be construed --
by Israeli courts -- as legal rights. And even if the deal makes no
reference to such rights, Israeli lawmakers and courts could
unilaterally declare that Israeli law would apply there -- just as it is
currently applied in embassies abroad and on Israeli airliners and
ships around the world. Even today, Jewish communities in Judea and
Samaria are subject to Israeli law despite the fact that the Knesset or
the government has never annexed those areas or officially applied
Israeli law there (because of the military rule in Judea and Samaria,
local officers can enforce Israeli law without obtaining Knesset
authorization).
A peace deal, when the time comes, will hinge on many things. A referendum will not be one of them.
Erez Linn is an Israel Hayom English Edition editor.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=5355
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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