A FAILURE TO ENFORCE LAW IN EAST JERUSALEM

Something that's been going for as long as 15 years:

The Knesset on Tuesday will hold a special session on illegal construction - and the abject failure of authorities to ensure order - in eastern Jerusalem.

The hearing comes due to recent admissions by government officials that code and law enforcement in Jerusalem's eastern neighborhoods is virtually non-existent because the authorities, including police, are afraid of entering the area and applying Israeli sovereignty there.

Lawyer Amir Fischer told Arutz Sheva he filed a petition demanding a government response due to the grim state of affairs in eastern Jerusalem, saying,"For fifteen years they have not enforced the law."

Fischer added that although his petition focused on the villages of A'akab and Atarot, the reality is pervasive throughout the Jerusalem's eastern neighborhoods.

The official response to Fischer's petition said, the "security situation in these neighborhoods is complex, largely influenced by the proximity between these areas to Judea and Samaria. Security forces in the sector routinely encounter violence and demonstrations, throwing rocks, throwing petrol bombs, blocking roads, and laying of pipe bombs, and more."

The state further argued "the responsibility for enforcing the planning and building laws rests with the Jerusalem municipality and that, due to the security situation, inspectors did not enter these areas for fifteen years. Entrance to the village requires military escorts and requires justification for using such resources." [...]

Fischer said he was ashamed of the state's response saying anarchy was the rule in parts of Israel's capital and that the question was one of national consequence.

"This affects our sovereignty in Jerusalem," Fischer said, noting the failure to enforce Israeli law in Jerusalem runs counter to the Basic Law on Jerusalem and undercuts Israeli claims to its own capital.

Law enforcement can take a lot of monetary resources, but it's very necessary and vital, and this is going to have to be made clear in the session they're going to hold on this issue.