Israel Ends Permit System Blocking Jewish Land Purchases in Judea and Samaria

The Security Cabinet approved a sweeping package of decisions on Sunday that opens land registries in Judea and Samaria, repeals a Jordanian-era ban on Jewish land purchases, and shifts planning authority at key sites including Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela.

At the center of the decisions is a fundamental change to land ownership policy. The cabinet repealed a Jordanian-era law that barred Jews from purchasing privately owned land in Judea and Samaria. Until now, such land, typically owned by Palestinians, could be sold only through intermediary companies, because direct sales to Jews were prohibited and required special transaction permits from the Civil Administration. Under the new decision, those restrictions were canceled, allowing Jews to purchase privately owned land directly, without intermediary companies or special permits, meaning a Jewish individual can purchase privately owned land directly from a Palestinian owner, without needing a special transaction permit from the Civil Administration.

In parallel, the cabinet approved opening land registry records in Judea and Samaria to the public. Unlike land registries inside Israel, which are open and accessible, registries in Judea and Samaria had been largely confidential. The new policy makes ownership records available, subject to limited security-based exceptions, increasing transparency and legal certainty for land transactions.

Another key decision concerns planning authority in Chevron. Until now, construction and infrastructure projects in the Jewish settlement area of the city, including Ma’arat HaMachpela, formally fell under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian municipality, requiring Israeli authorities to intervene separately for each permit. The cabinet approved transferring full building permit authority in those areas to the Civil Administration’s planning institutions, allowing approvals to be handled routinely by Israeli bodies without repeated special procedures.

The cabinet also approved the establishment of a dedicated municipal administration for the Rachel’s Tomb (Kever Rachel) complex. Although the site lies outside Israel’s municipal boundaries, it does not receive regular local services. The new body will be responsible for sanitation, maintenance, landscaping, signage, and day-to-day operations at the site and its surrounding facilities.

In addition, Israeli enforcement powers were expanded into Areas A and B in specific fields, including environmental damage, water violations, and harm to archaeological and heritage sites. The decision extends an earlier policy applied in Area B and authorizes enforcement activity in Area A for these limited purposes.

A further component of the package is the renewal of the Land Acquisition Committee, a state body that ceased operating roughly two decades ago. Its reinstatement allows the government to carry out proactive land purchases in Judea and Samaria and to preserve land reserves for future development.

Senior settlement leaders welcomed the decisions. Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said, “The decision is to ‘check’ to discrimination and racism against Jews in the land of the Bible. No nation has a deeper connection to its homeland than the Jewish people to Judea and Samaria. The ‘checkmate’ will be full sovereignty over all communities and areas.”

Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Gantz called the move historic. “For the first time, the disgraceful reality in which Arabs could buy land in Judea and Samaria while Jews were forbidden from doing so has come to an end,” he said.

The Regavim movement said the decisions followed years of effort. “Years of struggle, hundreds of discussions, field tours and in-depth research led to the dramatic decisions approved today,” the organization said. “Zionism is measured not by declarations, but by action.”

The cabinet’s decision follows a series of land and registry policy steps taken during 2025, including earlier cabinet discussions on opening land records and clarifying ownership and registration procedures in Judea and Samaria. Sunday’s approvals bring those separate measures together into a single, coordinated framework governing land purchases, registration, planning authority, and enforcement.