the israeli incorporation regime91 implementation of this law, and is required to regulate holy sites in general and not selectively on the basis of their religious affiliation. However, while The Protection of Holy Sites Law (1967) applies to holy sites of all religious groups within Israeli controlled lands, including Jerusalem, the Israeli government only implements regulations for Jewish sites.100 Non-Jewish holy sites are not identified, safeguarded or preserved to the same extent under this law because the government does not recognize them as official holy sites. Indeed, in early 2007, there were 135 officially recognized holy sites – all of them Jewish. Though prominent and familiar sites do receive protection due to their international importance, many Christian and Muslim sites are neglected, inaccessible or at risk of exploitation by real estate entrepreneurs, corporations, and local authorities. For instance, in the 2009 International Religious Freedom Report, the United States Depart­ ment of State writes that “Christian pilgrimage sites around the Sea of Galilee face periodic threats of encroachment from district planners who want to use parts of their properties for recreation.”101 The Report also states that the State of Israel will even sometimes allow private individuals or local authorities to transform old mosques into galleries, recreation centres, restaurants and museums, and often restricts entry into non-Jewish holy sites. Moreover, it notes that, in the past, only diplomatic initiatives have prevented Israeli government initiatives of this kind. Taken together, the lack of recognition of Christian and Muslim places of worship results in discrimination in the designation of the state budgets for holy sites and unjustifiably disregards the religious and historical significance of the sites. Restrictions placed on access to non-Jewish holy sites, along with limits to funding, protection, and service provision for those sites, significantly contribute to religious tensions in Israeli controlled lands.102 In Israel proper, many Palestinian localities do not have Christian or Muslim places of worship available given the inability of the municipalities to build or legally maintain a church or mosque. For instance, while there is one synagogue for every 700 Jews living in Beer el-Sabi’ (Be’er Sheva), there does not exist a single functioning mosque for the city’s 5,000 Muslims.103 100 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, “Additional Information to the UN CERD.” 101 United States Department of State, Israel and the Occupied Territories: International Religious Freedom Report 2009, Annual Report, October 26, 2009, http://www.state.gov/j/ drl/rls/irf/2009/127349.htm. 102 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, “Legal Advocacy, Supreme Court Petitions: Religious Rights,” http://www.old-adalah.org/eng/­legaladvocacy religious.php. 103 The only existing place of worship for Muslims in the city, the Big Mosque, was used as a moqsue from 1906–1948, yet after the establishment of the State of Israel it was used as