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Proposed Model of Full Autonomy for the
West Bank and Gaza Strip
Government of Egypt, 28 January, 1980
- I - Introduction
- (a) The Camp David Framework stipulates the withdrawal of the military
government and its civilian administration, and the transfer of its authority
to the self-governing authority which will replace it.
- (b) In reviewing the powers and responsibilities of the military government
and its civilian administration, the working group was seeking to envisage,
through a practical approach, the powers and responsibilities to be exercised
by the SGA (Self-Governing Authority) in the context of its replacement
of the military government and its civilian administration as stated in
the Camp David Framework. That was the purpose of the survey of the current
situation, it was a way out of the deadlock caused by the conceptual discussions
of the comprehensive approach, and a step to provide the parties with
basic information for discussing the transfer of authority. Indeed, the
presentations of the powers and responsibilities of the military government
and its civilian administration were meant to lead the working group,
in the light of these presentations, and in the context of the transfer
of authority, to prepare a model for the powers and responsibilities to
be exercised by the SGA (Self-Governing Authority).
This method was endorsed by the decision taken at the London meeting
of the heads of delegation on October 26, 1979:
"... Presentations on the current situation will provide the parties
with basic information for discussing transfer of authority as stated
in the Camp David Framework."
This led subsequently to the call of the plenary on December 19, 1979
to the working group:
"To proceed to prepare for the plenary's future consideration a proposed
model for the powers and responsibilities to be exercised by the SGA".
- (c) When the method is thus set in perspective, it becomes clear that
when a model of the powers and responsibilities of the SGA is to be prepared,
the guiding frame should be the powers and responsibilities of the military
government and its civilian administration and that the focal points in
discussing such a model should be:
- 1 - Withdrawal of the Israeli military government and its civilian
administration.
- 2 - The transfer of authority.
- 3 - Organs of the SGA which will take over from, and replace, the
military government and its civilian administration.
- II - The Military Government and its Civilian Administration
- (a) On June 7, 1967, the Israeli military command published proclamation
No. 2 entitled "Laws and administration proclamation". A section of which
is concerned with the assumption of government by the Israeli defence
forces, and under the title "Assumption of powers" it reads:
"Any power of government, legislation, appointment, or administration
with respect to the region or its inhabitants shall henceforth vest
in me alone and shall be exercised only by me or a person appointed
by me to that end or acting on my behalf."
- (b) The Israel military government currently existing in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip has full comprehensive authority. It assumes the power
of formulating all policies and coordinating all activities. Its decision
making emanates from different and interconnected channels of Israeli
cabinet and interministerial levels as well as a chain of military command
leading to the area or regional commander (one for the West Bank and one
for Gaza) who was vested with full legislative and executive authority
in the area as shown in the aforementioned proclamation. Mandatory orders
issued by the military commander presented legislative enactments and
revisions. Policy is determined according to considerations adopted by
the office of the coordinator of activities, the Israeli ministry concerned
and the regional command.
- (c) Administrative authority is delegated to regional and district com-manders.
Routine administrative duties and conduct of ordinary activities are left
to the relevant institutions that were already operating in the West Bank
and Gaza or to newly organized units of administrative service.
The civil administration of the military government is carried out
by branches, each branch supervising a number of units. The units carry
out the conduct of every day life. Heads of units who operate in the
areas are directly subordinated through the chief of branch to the military
commander while they come, at the same time, under the corresponding
ministries in Israel on professional matters. From the ministry they
get instructions on professional matters, how to act, how to deal with
the problems arising out of the daily life. From the commander, through
the chief of branch, they get the policy, the command.
- (d) The military government and its civilian administration is therefore
composed of different levels manifesting different layers of authority.
One layer legislates and formulates policies while another layer executes
and carries out the policies.
The Camp David Framework stipulates the transfer of both. It is not
a matter of transferring the administrative set-up which implements
the orders but first and foremost transferring the strata of authority
which holds the power to issue the orders.
- (e) It may be recalled that the civil administration of the military
government is mainly composed, even now, of local inhabitants. According
to the figures of December 1978 there were in the West Bank 11,165 local
employees in the civil administration (and only 980 Israelis) while in
Gaza there are local director-generals heading 14 of the main units.
So, it may be said, that even now the Palestinian people in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip are bearing most of the responsibility for running
the affairs of their daily life but only carrying out decisions which
were made for them and implementing policies which were formulated over
their heads.
When the Camp David Framework promises them full autonomy, it can
only mean that under the SGA they will be able to take their own decisions
and formulate their own policies.
The full autonomy which the Camp David Framework provides for cannot
amount to a reorganization of what the Palestinians in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip already have, but rather the transformation of that set-up
in an authority which is self-governing. Hence, the withdrawal of the
military government and the transfer of its manifold authority to the
inhabitants.
- III - Withdrawal of the Military Government and the Transfer
of Authority
- (a) The first step in establishing the SGA should be the withdrawal
of the military government, the Camp David Framework for peace states
clearly that:
"The Israeli military government and its civilian administration will
be withdrawn as soon as a self-governing authority has been freely elected
by the inhabitants of these areas to replace the existing military government."
The joint letter of March 26, 1979 states that: "The Military Government
and its civilian administration will be withdrawn, to be replaced by
the SGA."
- (b) Distinction is made in both the Camp David Framework and the joint
letter between two kinds of withdrawals:
- 1 - The withdrawal of the military government and its civilian administration
which is total and absolute. It is an unqualified withdrawal; and
- 2 - A withdrawal of Israeli armed forces which is going to be partial
and there will be a redeployment of the remaining forces into specified
security locations.
- (c) The withdrawal of the military government and its civilian administration,
which occurs as soon as the SGA is elected, is the first step towards
the assumption by the SGA of its powers and responsibilities. The transfer
of authority takes place by handing over the powers and responsibilities
of the military government and its civilian administration to the newly
elected SGA. The SGA replaces the outgoing regime.
- (d) In this respect, the following elements should be stressed:
- (1) The transfer of authority implies the handing over of all powers
and responsibilities presently exercised by the military government
and its civilian administration.
- (2) The transfer of authority should be carried out in a peaceful
and orderly manner.
- (3) Whenever Palestinian Institutions already exist in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, as part of the prevailing system of civil service,
they will, in the course of such transfer of authority, take over
the functions of, and replace, the military government and its civilian
administration. It is only when new functions, or new powers, are
transferred to the SGA which were not exercised before under the military
regime by the Palestinian people that new organs should be sought.
- (e) Stress should be focused more on the powers and functions that are
not exercised by the Palestinian people under the military regime so that
the neces-sary relevant organs would be suggested. The Palestinian people
already played the major role in the civil service which obeyed the commands
and implemented the policies of the military regime. Under the autonomy
there will be need for an organ to fulfill their newly acquired power
to make their own decisions and formulate their own policies. The elected
body of the SGA is obviously that organ.
- IV - Powers and Responsibilities to be Exercised by the
Self-Governing Authority
- For a model of powers and responsibilities to be exercised by the SGA,
some keywords and guidelines from the Camp David Framework for peace should
be stressed at the outset.
- (a) It is a self-governing authority, which means that it governs
itself by itself. It is a self-generating authority. No outside source
vests it with its authority.
- (b) It provides full autonomy, and not an impaired or partial autonomy.
- (c) This self-governing authority with full autonomy comes through
free elections. It is a democratic structure of government by the
people and for the people. As an elected body it has a representative
character and its membership fulfill the functions and exercise the
powers that an elected representative body usually does.
- 1 - Nature of the SGA:
The SGA is an interim arrangement for a period not exceeding 5 years.
This transitional process, at the outset of which the Israeli military
government and its civilian administration will be withdrawn and the SGA
established, can demonstrate that the practical problems arising from
a transition to peace can be satisfactorily resolved. The transitional
period is aimed at bringing about the changes in attitudes that can assure
a final settlement which realizes the legitimate rights of the Palestinian
people while assuring the security of all the parties. The purpose of
this transitional arrangement is:
- (a) To ensure a peaceful and orderly transfer of authority to the
Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- (b) To help the Palestinian people to develop their own political,
economic and social institutions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip so
as to give expression to the principle of full autonomy which the
SGA provides.
- (c) To provide the proper conditions for the Palestinian people
to participate in negotiations leading to the solution of the Palestinian
problem in all its aspects and the realization of their legitimate
rights including their right to self-determination.
- 2-Scope of the SGA:
- 3 - General Powers and Responsibilities of the SGA:
- 1 - Promulgation of laws and regulations
- 2 - Policy formulation and supervision
- 3 - Budgetary provisions
- 4 - Taxation
- 5 - Employment of staff
- 6 - Issuance of identity and travel documents
- 7 - Control of in and out movement of persons and goods
- 8 - Power to assume obligations and own property
- 9 - Power to hold title to public land
- 10 - Power to sue and to be sued
- 11 - Power to enter into contracts
- 12 - Power to participate in negotiations on the final status of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to ascertain in the views of the
Palestinians
- 13 - Assuming responsibility for:
- (a) Public administration;
- (b) Public services;
- (c) Public order and internal security and police;
- (d) Public domain and natural resources;
- (e) Economic and financial fields;
- (f) Social and cultural fields;
- (g) Human rights and fundamental freedoms;
- 14 - Administration of Justice.
- 4 - Structure of the SGA:
- (a) The SGA will be composed of 80-100 members freely elected from
the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- (b) The structure of the SGA contains two main organs:
- - An assembly composed of all freely elected representatives
from the West Bank and Gaza.
- - A council composed of 10-15 members to be elected from among
the membership of the assembly.
- (c) The Assembly:
- (1) It will take over, and replace, the authority of the military
government in enacting laws and regulations, formulating and supervising
policies, adopting the budget, levying taxes, etc...
- (2) Its internal organization of a chairman with one or more
vice-chairmen, its rules of procedure and the number and composition
of its committees will be determined by the Assembly itself.
- (d) The Council:
- (1) It assumes the actual administration of the West Bank and
Gaza and implements the policies formulated by the assembly in
the different domains.
- (2) It covers the whole range of activities and has full power
in organizing, operating, employing staff and supervising the
following executive branches: Education - Information and Culture
- Transportation and Communications - Health - Social Welfare
- Labour - Tourism - Internal Security - Housing - Religious Affairs
- Agriculture - Economy and Finance - Commerce - Industry - Administration
of Justice.
- (3) The Council will constitute its divisions as it deems necessary
for the proper conduct of its functions and will determine the
number of divisions, the internal organization of divisions and
the machinery for coordination as befits the best and the most
effective conduct of its activities. It may get in this respect,
and if requested, expert help from the parties.
- (e) The Judicial authority will be manifested in a system of courts
of law, courts of appeal and supreme court enjoying full guarantees
for independence and efficiency in their administration of justice.
- (f) The SGA will have a representative, alongside with the representatives
of Israel, Egypt (and Jordan), on the continuing committee in accordance
with Article 3 of the Camp David Framework. Matters of common concern
to Israel and the SGA which need mutual arrangements could be dealt
with through the committee.
- 5 - Seat of the SGA:
- The seat of the SGA will be East Jerusalem.
- 6 - Additional Arrangements:
- (a) As soon as the SGA is established and inaugurated in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, a withdrawal of Israeli armed forces will take
place and there will be a redeployment of the remaining Israeli forces
into specified security locations. Permission will be required for
any movement of military troops into or through the territory.
- (b) The Camp David Framework requires the parties to negotiate an
agreement which includes, inter alia, arrangements for assuring
internal security and public order. Responsibility for security and
public order will be decided jointly by the parties including the
Palestinians, the Israelis, the Egyptians (and the Jordanians).
- (c) A strong police force will be established in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. It will be constituted by the SGA and composed of the
people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
RETURN: to the BEGINNING of this document.
SOURCE: "Israeli-Arab Reader". Edited by Walter Laqueur
& Barry Rubin. Published by Penguin Books, NYC (1976), p. 159-166.
(C) Israel Law Resource Center, February, 2007.