Legal memo

Applying for a Building Permit in East Jerusalem

Published 15. Feb 2017
This fact sheet describes the procedures involved in applying for a building permit in occupied East Jerusalem. Numerous documents and procedural obligations are required in order to receive a building permit under Israeli planning regulations in effect in East Jerusalem. Detailed here are the particular constraints Palestinian residents face in undertaking these application procedures, which make obtaining a building permit almost impossible. A prerequisite to the authorisation of any building permit is the existence of an approved planning scheme. Therefore, this fact sheet also details the planning process and provides an overview of the steps involved in submitting both planning schemes and building permit applications.