Discrimination in Urban Planning

© Masar1920 | Dreamstime.com

ACRI and Bimkom—Planners for Planning Rights contacted the Director General of the Planning Administration and the Government Legal Advisor on August 28, 2025, following a publication on the website The Marker describing the administration’s policy of establishing new Jewish settlements among Arab and Bedouin settlements, in order to seize territories. The publication included a quote from a Planning Administration document, stating that there is no need to build a new Jewish settlement near city of Kiryat Gat because "this is not an area with many scattered Bedouin communities or Arab settlements, which would require adding Jewish settlement points and seizing territory." 

In the appeal, urban planner Cesar Yeudkin from Bimkom and Elsa Bonia from ACRI requested to clarify that the existence of Arab and Bedouin settlements in an area and the desire to "seize territory" are not among the considerations that authorities are permitted to take into account when deciding whether to establish a new town: "This is a discriminatory policy based on nationality that creates planning systems that see the Jewish population and its settlement in a space as the primary interest, while everything else is derivative of that. This consideration does not view the Arab citizens in the State of Israel as having equal rights in the space, but as a factor whose place of residence must be supervised, and whose living space must be reduced and controlled through the establishment of Jewish settlement points. Therefore, this is a racist, discriminatory, and fundamentally illegitimate statement." 

The appeal further emphasized that state authorities are obligated when engaging in urban planning to consider professional and substantive issues, as well as principles of equality. When examining initiatives for building new town, the Planning Administration must ensure that they conform to the rules and regulations established in national, district, and local master plans; address the limitations imposed by existing infrastructure systems both regionally and nationally; maintain the proper balance between areas designated for development and those required to remain open for the benefit of future generations; and meet basic principles of distributive justice and equality. Establishing new towns involves allocating limited public resources, and the government and its professional bodies must therefore ensure that they are used equally for all.

Appeal by ACRI and Bimkom, August 28, 2025 (Heb) 

We have not forgotten: 🛑 Stop the killing and starvation in Gaza 🛑 Stop the abandonment of the hostages 🛑 End the war. Now.