Yesh Din and ACRI sent legal correspondence, through Attorney Michael Sfard, to the Minister of Defense and the OC Central Command, demanding to cancel the order regarding the appointment of a civilian as deputy head of the Civil Administration, and to cancel the powers delegated to him.
The order and letter of appointment make it possible to transfer a huge chunk of the administrative powers, held by the head of the Civil Administration, to the civilian deputy, who is subordinate to Smotrich's Settlement Administration and is not subordinate to the military echelon – and in fact to any political elements. The signing of the order and the transfer of powers were not published in the weeks after they were signed, except on the MAG Corps website.
The correspondence states that the decree and letter of appointment of the deputy for civil affairs contained constitutional flaws, and that they created a legal annexation of occupied territory. "The decree and the letter of appointment and the transfer of powers constitute a de facto annexation, as they create a fundamental change in the regime structure of the occupied territory – from an area administered by a military government to an area directly administered by Israeli government officials and elected officials," the letter said.
We added that the structural change exacerbates the element of oppression of Palestinian communities and their deprivation of their rights, because the new regime structure enhances the interests of the settlers and weakens the weight of Palestinian interests to the point of a complete reset.