Petition filed by Gisha for change-of-address of a Palestinian living in the West Bank deleted HCJ 1337/15 Bali v. Minister of Defense
December 16, 2015
The petition was filed on February 22, 2015, on behalf of a Palestinian whose registered address remained Gaza, despite the fact that he had lived in the West Bank for some two decades, and despite his applications to have his address changed from Gaza to the West Bank to reflect this fact.
The incongruence between the petitioner’s address and the reality of his life results in serious harm to every aspect of his life – his freedom of movement, his right to family life, his right to freedom of religion and his ability to advance personally, academically and professionally.
On December 16, 2015, the court held a hearing (Hebrew) in the petition, during which it determined that the Palestinian Authority manages the Palestinian population registry and that Israel has indirect control over it and the power to demand that changes to the registry be subject to its approval. The court urged the respondents to explore possible solutions for the specific case of the petitioner, but the respondents refused to do so.
The parties agreed that the arrangement stipulated in HCJ 8101/14 (Jabarin v. Minister of Defense, decision dated October 28, 2015) would apply to the petitioner’s case as well – in other words, the petitioner would have to contact the deputy director of the Palestinian Authority’s Civil Affairs Ministry asking that he “confirm his application for change of address to the respondents using the appropriate channels” (the deputy director must transfer an application to change the petitioner’s address to the respondents and make sure the application was received). It was further agreed that the petitioner could make an application for a permit to exit the West Bank for PhD studies, and return there once completed. The application should be answered within 30 days.
Following the announcement on this settlement, and despite Gisha’s request to keep the petition pending until the petitioner’s matter is resolved, the court ordered its deletion (Hebrew).
