12 Israeli Land Grab and Forced Population Transfer of Palestinians people of Israel, the worldwide people of Israel”.29 When asked why this was not stated explicitly in the law, Wahrhaftig responded, “[w]e cannot express this.” He further explained, ‘[t]here is [in the law] a very significant legal innovation: we are giving legal garb to the Memorandum of Association of the [Jewish National Fund]”.30 In 1960, the Israel Lands Administration Law established both the Israel Lands Administration and the Israel Lands Council. Under this law the Israel Lands Council was designated as the body responsible for laying down land policy in accordance with which the Israel Lands Administration was to act. Pursuant to a covenant signed between the government and the Jewish National Fund in 1961, land owned by the Jewish National Fund was to “be administered [by the Israel Lands Administration] subject to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the [Jewish National Fund].”31 The Jewish National Fund only owns approximately 13 percent of all land within the state of Israel. The rest of ‘Israel Lands’ (which, including Jewish National Fund-owned land, make up approximately 90 percent of the land within Israel’s pre1967 borders32) are not subject to this explicit requirement. Nevertheless, intentions such as those expressed by Zerah Wahrhaftig were given effect in large part by a provision in the Covenant stipulating that the Jewish National Fund is entitled to just under half of the seats on the Israel Lands Council. In practice, the Jewish National Fund has had even greater representation on the Israel Lands Council. A report by the Israeli State Comptroller in 1993 revealed that in reality, participation of government representatives at Israel Lands Council board meetings was minimal compared to that of the Jewish National Fund representatives.33 It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the Israel Lands Administration acts in a manner that furthers Jewish possession of the land. This is well illustrated by its leasing practices in respect of agricultural land (which makes up 85 percent of ‘Israel Lands’34). There are two types of lease for agricultural land – long and short. Long leases are normally only granted to agricultural colonies (as opposed to individual farmers). According to the Candidates for Agricultural Settlement Law of 1953, ‘Settlement Institutions’ are the bodies responsible for establishing agricultural settlements.35 No Palestinian 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Bisharat, ‘Land, Law and Legitimacy in Israel and the Occupied Territories’, 534. Bisharat, ‘Land, Law and Legitimacy in Israel and the Occupied Territories’, 534. ‘The Covenant Between the State of Israel and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael’, n.d.; available from http:// www.kkl.org.il/eng/about-kkl-jnf/kkl-jnf-id/kkl-jnf-israeli-government-covenant/. Alexandre (Sandy) Kedar and Oren Yiftachel, ‘Land Regime and Social Relations in Israel’, in Realizing Property Rights: Swiss Human Rights Book (Zurich, 2006), 139; available from http://www.geog.bgu. ac.il/members/yiftachel/new_papers_eng/Kedar%20and%20Yiftachel.pdf; accessed 22 April 2013. Hussein Abu Hussein and Fiona McKay, Access Denied: Palestinian Land Rights in Israel (London ; New York, 2003), 177. Abu Hussein and McKay, Access Denied, 182. Abu Hussein and McKay, Access Denied, 190, f. 55.