Summary
Israel’s 1952 Status Law, passed 24 November 1952, recognising the World Zionist Organization, which is also the Jewish Agency, as the authorised agency to continue operating in Israel for development and settlement, absorption of immigrants from the Diaspora and coordination of Jewish institutions in those fields, with the details left to a Covenant with the Government, juristic personality for its Executive, and a Covenant-conditioned tax exemption (World Zionist Organisation - Jewish Agency (Status) Law, 5713-1952 (1952), PDF p.1-2).
Details
- Declaratory sections (sections 1-2, 5, PDF p.1): the State regards itself as the creation of the entire Jewish people, its gates open to every Jew wishing to immigrate; the Organisation carried the main responsibility for establishing the State; and the gathering in of the exiles is the central task of the State and the Zionist Movement, requiring the cooperation and unity of all Jews.
- Recognition (sections 3-4, PDF p.1): the Organisation takes care as before of immigration and directs absorption and settlement projects, and is recognised as the authorised agency for development and settlement, absorption of immigrants from the Diaspora and coordination of Jewish institutions and organisations active in those fields. Section 6 preserves the conferred status for an enlarged body if the Organisation broadens its basis with the Government’s consent and the Knesset’s approval.
- Covenant machinery (sections 7-12, PDF p.1-2): status details and cooperation are determined by a Covenant between the Government and the Zionist Executive, also known as the Executive of the Jewish Agency, based on the 23rd Zionist Congress declaration, published in Reshumot, with a coordination committee; the Executive is a juristic body; and the Executive, its funds and other institutions are exempt from taxes and other compulsory Government charges as the Covenant lays down.
- In Stateless Citizenship (2013), the law authorizes the Agency and the Organisation to function as quasi-governmental institutions advancing the Zionist Movement’s goals, benefiting Jews only, with no non-Jewish organisations granted similar status (PDF p.107-108, footnote 91).
Where sources disagree
- Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights states that the 1952 Status Law authorizes the World Zionist Organization / Jewish Agency and subsidiaries including the JNF to control most land for the exclusive benefit of Jews (PDF p.194-195). The Law as printed in its primary text names no subsidiary and no land function, its settlement language being sections 3-4 in general terms (World Zionist Organisation - Jewish Agency (Status) Law, 5713-1952 (1952), PDF p.1). Both accounts are kept; the land regime in the primary texts of this batch is in the 1953 Keren Kayemet law and the 1960 land laws.
Related pages
World Zionist Organisation - Jewish Agency (Status) Law, 5713-1952 (1952), World Zionist Organization, Jewish Agency, Jewish National Fund, Knesset