Another disturbing decision of the High Court justices was
issued
last week when three judges headed by Aharon Barak forbade
the Housing
and Construction Ministry to grant buyers of apartments in
Elad any
benefits that are not offered to other buyers in the center
of the
country. The reason for this is that the Housing Ministry has
designated
Elad as a city with a religious character.
The High Court justices accepted the claim of the Am Chofshi
organization
that the Housing and Construction Ministry gave purchasers of
apartments
in Elad preferential treatment. According to the decision of
the High
Court, those who have already bought apartments and have
received
benefits will not be adversely affected.
When construction began in Elad, the Government decided to
grant purchasers
of apartments in Elad loans of NIS 60 thousand, of which NIS
30 thousand
was a loan and NIS 30 thousand was a grant. In addition, the
Government
decided to pay 25 percent of the development costs. 7000
dwelling
units were planned for Elad, and the contractors pledged to
sell the
apartments only to religious buyers.
Due to the appeal of MK Yossi Paritzki of Am Chofshi, the
three justices,
Aharon Barak, Tova Strassberg-Cohen and Dorit Beinish
determined that
the future occupants of Elad had been given preferential
treatment
in two aspects. The first is the fact that the loan given to
the future
occupants of Elad is higher than that given in other areas of
the
central region of the country. In addition, the magnitude of
the construction
under preferential conditions is disproportionate in
comparison with
the general population.
The High Court determined that granting the future occupants
of Elad
special benefits violated the principle that aid for purchase
of apartments
is to be determined by criteria based upon objective personal
factors.
The High Court justices said that they had decided to
restrict the
benefits to Elad buyers rather than to order them granted to
other
buyers because they could not determine the full consequences
of imposing
additional benefits.
Grants for the future occupants of Elad ended a number of
weeks ago,
and the decision of the Court was not applied retroactively.
Thus,
for the moment, the decision has no immediate practical
consequences.
However, the UTJ MKs have asked that they be given an
extension period.
Alternate ways of continuing to benefit the purchasers of
apartments
in Elad are currently being investigated.
In any event, chareidi observers of the High Court
immediately responded
that the decision seems to be fully consistent with the anti-
religious
approach that the Court has followed for several years.
