Israeli gov't moves to assume authority over archaeological sites in Palestinian-controlled areas of Judea & Samaria

Coalition lawmakers are working on a bill designed to extend Israeli authority over archaeological and heritage sites in Judea and Samaria, including sites located in Palestinian-controlled Areas A and B under the Oslo Accords, according to the latest draft uploaded to the Knesset website on Wednesday.

The draft bill is not yet ready for voting in the Education and Culture Committee, to which it was submitted, and still includes notes and annotations indicating items that need to be clarified ahead of a committee vote. 

It is a revised version of another bill, previously submitted in 2023, which sought to have the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) assume authority over the sites in the disputed territories in Judea and Samaria to protect them from vandalism and deliberate attempts to destroy certain sites.

The IAA opposed the idea when originally presented, saying, the bill “could cause significant damage to the academic ties of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the State of Israel with international bodies and damage its professional reputation.” The new bill would seek to establish a new civilian body to oversee the antiquities in the territories. 

Currently, the Israeli government has largely conducted excavations intended to prevent damage to historic sites, either due to weathering or human intervention, but has not conducted new academic digs or developed sites for tourism purposes in Judea and Samaria.

The excavations have been conducted in accordance with the prevailing interpretation of the authority that the Oslo Accords granted Israel in Judea and Samaria. 

Under the Oslo Accords, Judea and Samaria were divided into zones, labeled A, B, and C. Area C is under Israeli military and civil authority, although legally distinguished in some ways from territory within the so-called Green Line.

Area B is territory that is under Palestinian Authority (PA) civil control, but Israel's security control. Several Israeli settlements exist in Area B, but the areas are largely populated by Arab municipalities. Area A is under the civil and security administration of the PA. 

Under this system, Israel has carried out some excavations through the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration archaeological body, which operates under Israel's COGAT (the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), these largely being salvage excavations. 

The bills states that its purpose is “to establish the direct responsibility of the State of Israel for the care of antiquities and heritage and archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria, and for the enforcement of legislation intended to prevent and reduce harm to them, including the protection, preservation, development, and rescue of antiquities and sites, taking into account the unique aspects applicable to them in Judea and Samaria [the biblical name of the West Bank].” 

A clause in the bill describes the geographical scope of this authority as applying to Areas A, B, and C. 

The Justice Ministry has warned that the new bill could create new legal challenges due to the complex legal situation in the territories. 

“The legislation may create clashes and inconsistencies and could end up doing more harm than good,” the Times of Israel quoted Justice Ministry official Shira Emanuel as saying. “All land and expropriation laws are fundamentally different in Judea and Samaria.” 

Several Israeli archaeology academics have also voiced concern that the bill could lead to further attempts to annex territory in Judea and Samaria. 

Discussion of the bill in the Education and Culture Committee was limited to its first clause, as talks grew tense and Knesset members debated the potential consequences of the move, The Times of Israel reported.