Today, February 16, the Supreme Court heard Gush Shalom's petition against the settler radio "Galey Israel". Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish and her fellow judges Edna Arbel and Hanan Meltzer reprimanded the state for "constitutionally improper" provisions in the West Bank military governor's decree establishing the "Judea and Samaria Broadcasting Authority". The military governor purports to "delegate authority" to the Minister of Communications, in contravention of the basic democratic principle that the military is subordinate to the elected civilian executive branch.

The petitioners' main argument was that the "Judea and Samaria Broadcasting Authority", which supposedly authorized the creation of the "regional radio" in the West Bank, is a fictitious organization – no more than a legal fiction aimed at bypassing the earlier Supreme Court ruling on the matter, stating that the "Second Broadcasting Authority" which operates within the State of Israel has no authority to act outside Israeli sovereign territory and give broadcasting licenses to radio stations in the Occupied Territories. In fact, the "Judea and Samaria Broadcasting Authority" is for intents and purposes the same body as the Israeli "Second Broadcasting Authority" – composed of the same personnel, with the same budgets and the same decision-taking procedures.

The judges, however, found that this situation was acceptable – as it is in conformity with "The Law of the Enclaves" which had become a major element of Israeli law in the past several decades, and through which daily life in the settlements is effectively conducted under Israeli law though the territory was not formally annexed. Similar arrangements have already long been in force in various spheres of life, whereby government officials are "wearing two hats" – on some occasions fulfilling governmental functions inside Israel as part of the civil government and on other occasions fulfilling similar functions in the settlements as officials of the military government.

Therefore, the judges found no fault in the fact that the "Judea and Samaria Broadcasting Authority" is basically the same body as the Israeli authority, although formally these are two different corporations. The Gush Shalom lawyers were therefore asked to withdraw the petition - but nevertheless, the judges added the comment mentioned above about the inadmissibility of a cabinet minister being in effect subordinate to a military commander.

"These question marks put up by the court are significant achievement, which points in the necessary direction – a return to a sane situation, where there would be a complete separation between the sovereign State of Israel and the Occupied Territories," said Adv. Gaby Lasky, who represented the petitioners. "While we had hoped that the court would put a definite end to the fundamental constitutional fault, which it did not do. Still, it is to be hoped that the government lawyers have gotten the message, ending this practice whereby the military commander has the actual authority to order ministers."

Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesperson said that: "These proceedings exposed the pernicious situation inherent in "The Law of the Enclaves" which has taken root in the Israeli legal system and built up extensively over the past for twenty years, without any public debate. This creates a situation of two separate and unequal systems of law in the same territories – one law for the Jewish settler Lords of the Land, and a different, military law for the Palestinian residents. This kind of legal situation is unmatched in the modern Western world, and all historical parallels are derived from the time of colonial rule in various countries."

Keller went on to state that the granting of a broadcasting license to the "Judea and Samaria Regional Radio" for the settlers' use - the so-called "Galey Yisrael" ("Waves of Israel") station - creates a discriminatory situation in Israeli public life. The settlers and their supporters are provided with an officially right-wing radio station which openly supporters the settlement enterprise - while opponents of the settlements are required to satisfy themselves with the coverage given by radio stations committed to the principle of "political neutrality" and "balance between right-wing and left-wing". This is a completely unacceptable situation, infringing basic democratic norms, and our legal team will continue to look for other means of challenging it."

Contact: Adam Keller, 054-2340749