Following HaMoked's petition, the Court ordered the State to see to the registration of a Palestinian resident of the West Bank whom the State had refused to acknowledge as a resident due to bureaucratic failures: the Justices ruled that the Petitioner holds strong administrative evidence and it is difficult to understand why his application for status had not yet been approved

On 20 October 2005, HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice (HCJ) in the matter of a Palestinian resident who applied for his first ID card. The Petitioner was born in Jordan. His mother entered the West Bank and registered him in the population registry in the Territories when he was still an infant. When he was older, the Petitioner found out that his name had been omitted from the registry in the days when the Israeli civil administration managed it. Despite the fact that the Petitioner has official Israeli papers supporting his claim that he had been included in the registry, the Respondent refused to acknowledge his residency thereby denying him of all residency rights, including an ID card and the ability to go abroad and return to the West Bank.

The Petitioner is handicapped and has difficulty hearing, caused by his cerebral palsy. His family has had to return to Jordan lately, and he was forced to remain in the West Bank as he cannot go abroad without legal status in the Territories. In the petition, HaMoked stressed that due to his health, his long separation from his family is causing great mental anguish.

On November 14 2005, the HCJ heard the petition. During the hearing, Justices Beinisch, Levy and Rubinsetin harshly criticized the State. They established that the Petitioner possesses strong administrative evidence supporting his request and it is difficult to understand why his name has not yet been reinstated in the registry. The Justices also expressed discontent with the fact that the State unnecessarily put obstacles in the Petitioner's way when it made the correction conditional on an application on his behalf being made by the Palestinian Authority.

At the end of the hearing, the Court ordered the State to submit a supplementary response within 30 days, and noted that in this case a positive reply on the part of the State is expected. Indeed, the State obliged within the timeframe ordered by the Court, and on 4 December, 2005, the Petitioner's name was restored to the registry and he received an ID card.

To view the petition (Hebrew)