36 Israeli Land Grab and Forced Population Transfer of Palestinians Court legitimized the confiscation agreeing that the construction of these roads was necessary for “absolute security needs”.136 State Lands Israel ‘inherited’ all the land that was registered in the High Commissioner’s name from the British government after 1948, which thus became Israeli State Land.137 After 1967, Israel also claimed all the ‘State Land’ that Jordan had designated as such during its rule in the West Bank. Israel achieved this through the application of a 1967-adopted military order: Order Concerning Government Property (No. 59).138 The Military Order defines State Land as property that, on the ‘relevant date’ (7 June 1967, the day Israel occupied the West Bank), belonged to an enemy state and/ or corporation of which an enemy state had control or rights or that was registered at that time in its name.139 Further, the Military Order bestows administration of State Land to the Custodian appointed by the Israeli Military Commander, who is empowered “to take possession of government property and to take any measure he deems necessary to that end”.140 The Military Order also allows for the Custodian to deem any lands as State Lands, even if they are retroactively shown not to be State Land, provided he believed “in good faith” that they were State Lands.141 This Order has since been amended. In November 1979, following the verdict of the Elon Moreh Case, the government issued a decision "to expand the settlement in Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights by adding population to the existing communities and by establishing new communities on state-owned land".142 The term ‘State Land’ was not defined therein; however, the colonization enterprise actually expanded following this measure with approximately 90 percent of the colonies established on land declared as State Land.143 Basically, this was accomplished through a manipulation of laws already in place. First, Israel conducted a survey to ascertain which land fell under the ‘State Land’ criteria as designated so by the Jordanian and preceding legal systems. Initial 136 Wafa Et Al. V. Minister of Defence Et Al., 50(2) 848 Piskei Din (HCJ 1996). 137 Abu Kishk, ‘Arab Land and Israeli Policy’, 127. 138 Order Concerning Government Property (Judea and Samaria) 1967, 1967. 139 Definitions article in the original version of the Order concerning Government Property, as published in Collections of Proclamations, Orders and Appointments No. 5, 1967, 162 –165. 140 Order Concerning Government Property (Judea and Samaria) 1967 Article 2 of original version. 141 Order Concerning Government Property (Judea and Samaria) 1967 Article 5. 142 Government Decision No. 145 of 1 November 1979, 1979. 143 ‘Lands in Judea and Samaria’ (Lecture, Bet Hapraklit, May 28, 1985), 5.