Reversal: A Discriminatory Israel Land Authority Decision Is Canceled and the Petitioner Wins the Tender

On 13 April 2026, the Nazareth Administrative Court accepted the arguments of an Arab-owned company based in Nazareth. After the Israel Land Authority withdrew its opposition, the court issued a particularly short judgment canceling the disqualification of the company’s tender award and confirming that its award remained valid.

The judgment’s significance lies in the unusual circumstances, particularly the allegation of religious discrimination by the Authority, which the Supreme Court prohibits from discriminating in tenders and land allocations.

The Tender

The petition concerned tender No. Tzaf/165/2024, published by the Israel Land Authority for a lease of industrial site No. 15 in the Yizre’el Regional Council industrial zone. The petitioner submitted the highest bid and won. The tender required full payment within ninety days of the award decision. The company, whose account is at a major bank’s Nazareth branch, made its final payment on Monday, day 91, because all Nazareth banks are closed on Saturday and Sunday.

The Dispute

The disputed tender clause stated: “Where the final deadline for payments to the Authority falls on a day without banking activity in the economy, payment is extended until banking activity resumes. Days with partial banking activity count as days with banking activity for this purpose.” Day 90 fell on Sunday. Since the bank’s headquarters do not operate on Friday and Nazareth banks close on Saturday and Sunday, the petitioner argued that this clause entitled it to a one-day extension.

The Authority disagreed and canceled the award, refusing to reconsider even after the company drew attention to the particular circumstances.

The petitioner asked the court to find the cancellation discriminatory and based on an incorrect interpretation of the tender, and therefore to annul it.

It argued that, for an Arab winner based in Nazareth, an Arab city whose banks close on Sundays, the reasonable interpretation is that when the deadline falls on a day without local economic activity, the rest day of the city’s non-Jewish residents when its banks are closed, payment is extended to the following Monday.

The Authority maintained that “days without activity in the economy” meant only days without activity in every Israeli locality without exception. Yet this interpretation was shown to have no basis in the tender terms!

The Judgment

At the hearing, the court observed that the Authority’s position apparently gave a Jewish bidder an extra day—ninety-one days—when the deadline fell on Saturday, while requiring an Arab bidder in similar circumstances to pay within eighty-nine days. This appeared to discriminate against an entire community.

After considering the court’s remarks, the Authority withdrew the cancellation. The judgment accordingly granted the petition and annulled the decision canceling the award.

Adv. Uri Shiloh practices tender and real-estate law and represented the petitioner.

Administrative Petition (Nazareth Administrative Court) 58176-10-25