The Jewish Absentee Property Law

JVL Introduction

“Is it conceivable that innocent victims of war, deprived of their property, uprooted from their lands, murdered or forced to flee by the skin of their teeth, not be allowed to reclaim what belongs to them?”

Thus noted Ha’aretz satirist B. Michael echoes Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s fury that Poland has set a 30-year limitation on claims for compensation for dispossession.

But, he points out, Israel has for 71 years operated under a “Polish law” of its own – the Absentees’ Property Law.

As Michael says, “it allows the state to legally steal all the assets of war victims”.

Anyone for hypocrisy?

This article was originally published by Ha'aretz on Tue 29 Jun 2021. Read the original here.