The Levy Report (), officially called Report on the Legal Status of Building in Judea and Samaria (), is an 89-page report on West Bank settlements published on 9 July 2012, authored by a three-member committee headed by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy. The committee, dubbed the "outpost committee", was appointed by Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late January 2012 to investigate the legal status of unauthorized West Bank Jewish settlements, but also examined whether the Israeli presence in the West Bank is to be considered an occupation or not.
The report concludes that Israel's presence in the West Bank is not an occupation, and that the Israeli settlements are legal under international law. It recommends the legalization of unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts by the state, and provides proposals for new guidelines for settlement construction.
In May 2014, Haaretz reported that the government was covertly carrying out the recommendations of the Report.
The committee The three members of the committee are former Israeli Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy, former Foreign Ministry legal adviser Alan Baker and former deputy president of the Tel Aviv District Court Tchia Shapira. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the "members were meticulously chosen": Levy, who served as deputy mayor of Ramle on behalf of the Likud before being appointed as a Supreme Court judge, was the single minority justice to oppose the 2005 unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, declaring that it violated the rights of the Jewish settlers, Baker who is a resident of the West Bank settlement Har Adar was on the payroll of a settlers' organization which advocates legalization of outposts, and Shapira, the daughter of former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, is a sister-in-law of right-wing ideologue Israel Harel.
Background The Levy committee was appointed as an advisory committee by the Israeli cabinet in late January 2012, following pressure by settlement leaders. It was to examine legalization of settlement building in the West Bank and to recommend "an appropriate process to clarify land issues in the area", as well as to review the 2005 government report known as the Sasson Report, commissioned by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, which had found that several dozen outposts had been built without state approval and on privately owned Palestinian land. The Sasson report's objectivity was questioned after its author, former state prosecutor Talia Sasson, entered politics as a member of the left-wing Meretz party, and as a public board member of the human rights group Yesh Din. However, in addition to its assignment, the Levy committee also examined whether the Israeli presence in the West Bank is an occupation or not.
Findings and recommendations The Levy Report states that the classical laws of belligerent occupation "as set out in the relevant international conventions cannot be considered applicable to the unique and sui generis historic and legal circumstances of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria spanning over decades", and that the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention against the transfer of populations is not applicable to the Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, concluding: "Israelis have the legal right to settle in Judea and Samaria and the establishment of settlements cannot, in and of itself, be considered illegal". The assertion that Israel's settlement project is the province of domestic Israeli jurisdiction and not international law is "the most noteworthy, critical, and challenging aspect of the report," according to the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
The report, while recommending the legalization of outposts, is critical of government policies that allowed their establishment, stating "we wish to stress that the picture that has been displayed before us regarding Israeli settlement activity in Judea and Samaria does not befit the behavior of a state that prides itself on, and is committed to, the rule of law". The report notes that unauthorized Jewish building, including some 100 outposts built from 1991 to 2005, had taken place with the help of government offices and ministries, adding that the involvement of governmental agencies in such activity means that "such conduct is to be seen as implied agreement". The committee asks the government to clarify its policy on West Bank Jewish building, and ensure that all future settlement construction proceeds with the proper authorizations and permits "in accordance with the law". It also made a series of recommendations for the retroactive legalisation of constructions built without due permits.
The report calls on the government to allow planning and zoning authorities to complete the authorization process for outposts and unauthorized settler building on state land without any further need for additional political approval, saying that “pending completion of these proceedings and examination of the possibility of granting building permits, the state is advised to avoid carrying out demolition orders, since it brought about the present situation by itself” and suggests that settlements built on land whose status is unclear should be considered “settlements whose legal status is pending”.
The report provides guidelines for settlement construction. These include proposals that Only the government or an empowered ministerial committee should establish new settlements. Settlements should only be extended beyond their boundary or jurisdiction with the defense minister's approval, and notification of the prime minister. Construction within the bounds of an existing or future settlement should only require authorization from the planning and zoning authorities, without government or ministerial approval. There should be no prohibition on settler construction within the bounds of a settlement built on land seized by a military order. Israelis should be able to directly purchase land in the West Bank, and the procedures to register that land should be accelerated and completed within a reasonable time period. The public should be entitled to see data with regard to land rights in the West Bank.
In addition to that, the report recommends The establishment of a new court to adjudicate land disputes in the West Bank. Barring that, it suggests that the jurisdiction of district court judges be expanded to allow them to handle these disputes. These new judicial tribunal should settle the land disputes, including issues of Jewish construction on private Palestinian property, before petitions for eviction and demolitions are determined, stating that "pending such determination, state authorities should be instructed to avoid taking any positions in land conflicts and carrying out irreversible measures, such as eviction or demolition of buildings on the property".
Publication The report was published on 9 July 2012, after it was handed to prime minister Netanyahu in June 2012 and given to members of the Ministerial Committee on Settlements on 8 July 2012. Next, the report was subject to the review and approval of Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. Its publication came just days before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to visit the region.
Implementation of the Levy Report
The Netanyahu government was reluctant to adopt the Levy Report. In May 2014, however, Haaretz reported that the Government was covertly carrying out the report's recommendations to ease the settlement of Jews in the West Bank. Besides not to remove settlers from private Palestinian land, the Government was considering setting up a special court for land disputes in the West Bank, thus removing the military from such disputes.State to hinder removal of settlers from private land (premium article). Chaim Levinson, Haaretz, 27 May 2014Israel adopting some provisions of West Bank report. JTA, 27 May 2014
Reactions
Palestinian National Authority Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, dismissed the report and called on Israel to stop settlement activities if it is interested in reaching peace. Palestinian officials also noted that the Levy Report was published on the anniversary of the 2004 International Court of Justice′s advisory opinion which determined that Israel's construction of its separation barrier across the Green Line in the West Bank violates international law.
Al Fatah, the PLO′s largest faction headed by Mahmoud Abbas, reportedly issued a statement calling the Levy committee's conclusions a "farce" that "mocked and defied the international community".
In a press release of 18 October 2012, Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, stated that "the Levy Report simply reflects the position of a government that has chosen to turn occupation into annexation and to impose an Apartheid reality in Palestine rather than taking steps to make peace possible".
Israel
Political reactions in Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the report, saying: "In my opinion, this report is important because it deals with the legalization and the legitimization of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria on the basis of facts, a variety of facts and arguments that should be seriously considered", adding that the Ministerial Committee on Settlements would debate and decide the matter. By the time the Knesset dissolved in October 2012 following the call for early elections in January 2013, Netanyahu had not brought the report before the cabinet or the Ministerial Settlements Committee, which would have the power to approve it. Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein reportedly had issued a general directive asking ministries not to make major policy decisions until the next government is sworn in, without specifically mentioning the Levy Report.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said he welcomes the report, and hopes the cabinet approves it, adding that "it's not perfect, but it's an important step".
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said he "will work to ensure the government adopts the report’s conclusion and give a clear future and stability for tens of thousands of families after dozens of years," adding "finally, legal and historic justice has been done, following the twister political stances based on the Meretz activist Talia Sasson's report".
Interior Minister Eli Yishai praised the report, saying “the time has come to fix the injustice of the Talia Sasson Report and say openly that settlements in Judea and Samaria do not contradict the law, and complement the spirit of Zionism and Judaism".
Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz called on Netanyahu to immediately convene the Ministerial Committee on Settlements to adopt the report, which "proves the Sasson report was political from the start to the end".
Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein said "as a resident of a settlement in Judea and Samaria and the public diplomacy minister who fights to express the natural right to settle [there] and not apologize for it, I welcome the committee’s findings".
Likud MK Danny Danon welcomed the report, calling it "a gift for communities in Judea and Samaria" and urged the prime minister to act upon the report and to encourage more communities to develop in the West Bank, adding "the report will remove any leftist radicalism from previous court ruling on the outposts and bury once and for all the alarming report previously submitted by attorney Talia Sasson".
Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely, preparing to submit a bill to the Knesset, stated that "the Knesset must approve the report's conclusions, set up an Israeli land registry in Judea and Samaria, set up a court of law for discussing land issues in Judea and Samaria and apply Israeli planning and construction laws in these areas".