ALERT: New Civilian Authority to Govern Antiquities in the West Bank

Legislation to Establish a Civilian Authority to Govern Antiquities in the West Bank Passes First Vote

Yesterday, May 11, 2026, during the opening of the final session of the 25th Knesset, the “Heritage Authority in Judea and Samaria Bill” was submitted for a first reading in the Knesset plenum. Following a discussion late into the night, it passed (23 to 14). The fact that the bill was placed on the agenda at the last-minute suggests a calculated move to secure sectorial achievements for the settler movement and the ultra nationalists in the Knesset, as part of their election campaign.

If enacted, the bill would amount to the annexation of antiquities sites across the West Bank and a sweeping assault on Palestinian rights to their land and cultural landscape. Its approval would carry severe consequences for Israel’s international standing, specifically in the field of  archaeological scholarship.

This was the first of three votes needed to pass the legislation into law. In February, the bill passed the Knesset’s Education and Sports Committee chaired by MK Zvi Sukkot following nearly two years of deliberations. The bill paves the way for the establishment of a civilian Israeli statutory authority under the Ministry of Heritage to govern antiquities sites in the West Bank.  In essence, the bill assigns responsibility to the State of Israel for antiquities and heritage sites in the West Bank, replacing the Civil Administration’s Staff Officer for Archaeology unit with a civilian body in a move that constitutes annexation.

According to the law, the jurisdiction of the new heritage body would include territories for which the SOA claims responsibility today following two cabinet decisions (in 2024 and in 2026) which authorize the SOA to supervise and take enforcement measures at antiquity sites in Areas B and A, in addition to C, effectively dismantling the framework established under the Oslo II Accords.

MK Halevi (Likud) who initiated the bill and the Minister of Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu (Jewish Power), have made it clear throughout the discussions that the objective of the law is to apply Israeli sovereignty. The first draft of the bill clearly stated its objective:

“The purpose of the law is to establish the direct responsibility of the State of Israel for the management of antiquities and heritage and archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria, and for the enforcement of legislative provisions intended to prevent and reduce harm to them, including the protection, conservation, development, accessibility, and salvage of antiquities and sites, taking into account the unique characteristics of these sites in Judea and Samaria.”

prior to the vote late last night MK Amit Halevi (Likud) said:
“What is this war about? Why are our children shedding blood in Gaza and Lebanon, in Syria? Why are our pilots risking their lives in Iran, over Tehran, over Shiraz, over all these places?…This war is about our identity, about our culture. It is about God. It is about our deep belonging to this land. The fact that this land is an essential part of our identity, our heritage, our history. That is why victory in this war must include both of these levels: the physical level – absolute physical victory – but secondly, cultural victory over civilization.”

In response Gilad Kariv (The Democrats) said:
“A people that turns its past into a tool for life in the present devoid of justice, morality, and the pursuit of peace is a people that loses its future. And you, with your vision of annexation, are condemning the State of Israel to a future of moral disgrace and security disaster.”

 

 

Key Concerns:

  • De jure annexation via civilian governance: Following the bill’s approval, governance of West Bank antiquity sites will shift from the Staff Officer of Archaeology (SOA), a military-governed unit within the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA), to a civilian statutory authority under the Ministry of Heritage. This unprecedented direct application of Israeli civilian law to West Bank territory signals a clear act of annexation. 
  • Expansion into Areas A and B: Pursuant to the Interim Agreement between Israel and the PA (Oslo II), the SOA’s jurisdiction was confined to Area C. The proposed legislation, however, dictates that the new heritage authority will inherit jurisdiction over all areas where the SOA was active immediately preceding the bill’s enactment. Empowered by recent cabinet decisions that extended SOA operations  into Areas A and B, the new statutory authority will thereby assume enforcement capabilities in regions where civilian responsibility falls under the purview of the Palestinian Authority.
  • Politicization of Archaeology: In contrast to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), whose mandate is guided by professional imperatives, the new heritage authority will be statutorily subordinated to “government policy” (Section 3c). This provision effectively politicizes the institution, repurposing it as an apparatus designed to execute the Minister of Heritage’s partisan agenda concerning policy formulation and administrative appointments.
  • Exclusion of the Professional Community: Chapter 3 of the legislation establishes an advisory committee entrusted with policy formulation and budgetary allocation. Crucially, the bill mandates the inclusion of only two field experts: a single academic representative and one delegate from the IAA. Because there are no cultural heritage prerequisites for the remaining members, the legislation structurally deprives the authority of necessary professional guidance.
  • Discriminatory Enforcement: The legislation structurally precludes Palestinian participation in the governance and management of heritage sites. Specifically, only representatives of Israeli local authorities (settlements) will be permitted to be members of the advisory committee, while representatives of Palestinian communities will be excluded.

Conclusion:
As Halevi’s speech before last night’s vote made clear, this bill has nothing to do with the preservation of antiquities. It must be understood not only as a dangerous act of annexation, but as something its proponents view as a central component of the total war against the Palestinian people, in essence, the continuation of war by other means.

The attempt to sever Palestinians from their cultural landscape and redefine the past as belonging exclusively to Jews is a core element of the doctrine of “absolute victory” that we have seen in Gaza and are now seeing in the West Bank. The idea of “weaponizing antiquities” takes on a disturbingly literal meaning.

We call on Knesset members to oppose this bill in the two remaining votes. Its passage into law would constitute a dramatic escalation, endangering Palestinian rights, Israel’s international standing, and the integrity of the professional archaeological community in Israel.

To read a full translation of the bill see here.