The Regulations included, inter alia, the establishment of military tribunals to try civilians without granting the right of appeal, allowing sweeping searches and seizures, prohibiting publication of books and newspapers,[3] demolishing houses, detaining individuals administratively for an indefinite period, sealing off particular territories, and imposing curfew.
Although, in 1951, the Knesset decided that the Defense Regulations oppose the basic principles of democracy and directed the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee to draft a bill for their repeal, they were not abolished.
The Hague regulations authorize the military occupier of territories to implement new laws, intending to ensure ‘public order’ (translated from French).
In reference to “Military Authority Over the Territory of the Hostile State,” Article 43 of the Hague Regulations states, “The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country”[5][6] The interpretation and application of this Article was initially analyzed by the Israeli Supreme Court.
One of the first applications of Article 43, which was deemed valid by the Israeli Supreme Court was the case of the Jerusalem District Electricity Company.
Finally, the Supreme Court ruled in approval of the military’s confiscation of petitioners’ land, in order to build roads ultimately connecting the West Bank with Israel.
These cases all served to establish the role of the Hague Regulations, specifically that of Article 43, to be played in the context of Israel’s occupancy of the former Palestine.
[21] Not only land for the Barrier itself, but also the land between the Wall and the Green Line (the Seam Zone) are confiscated, usually under the pretext of security: Following the onset of the occupation in 1967, Israel brought all water resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory under its military control, as stipulated by Military Order No.