Chapter Two: The Law and Its Foundations
Paragraph One: Establishment of the Authority and Its Functions
Establishment of the Authority
2. The Antiquities Authority is established as a result of this Law.
The Authority - Corporation
3. the Authority is a corporation.
The Authority - a State-controlled body
4. The Authority is a State-controlled body as defined in paragraph 9(2) of the State comptroller Law, 5718-1958 [consolidated version]2.
Functions of the Authority
5. (a) The [primary] function of the Authority is to attend to all antiquities' affairs in Israel, including under water antiquities.
(b) The Authority may, with respect to the antiquities and sites, undertake any activity to discharge its functions, including –
(1) the uncovering and excavation of sites;
(2) the preservation, , restoration and development of sites;
(3) the administration, maintenance and operation of sites and their supervision;
(4) the preservation and restoration of antiquities;
(5) establishing supervision over archaeological excavations;
(6) the administration of the State’s treasures for antiquities, their supervision and control;
(7) setting in motion supervision with respect to offences under the Antiquities Law;
(8) preparing archaeological investigations and furthering their progress;
(9) preparing, administering and maintaining a scientific library of the archaeological history of Israel and her neighbors;
(10) the centralization, documentation and cataloguing of archaeological data;
(11) the establishment and advancement of educational activities in the field of archaeology;
(12) the establishment of international, scientific contacts in the field of archaeology.
(b) The administration, maintenance and operation of a site located within the boundaries of a supervised national park or national reserves shall, notwithstanding that which is stated in subsection (b) (3), form part of the National Parks Authority or the Natural Reserves Authority, this in cooperation with the Authority, unless otherwise mutually agreed to. For these purposes, “national park”, “natural reserves”, “National Parks Authority” and “Natural Reserves Authority” are to be understood in their context under the National Parks, Natural Reserves and National Sites Act, 5723-19633.
Paragraph Two: The Authority council
The Composition of the Council
6. (a) The Authority shall have a Council composed of sixteen members as follows
(1) government representatives who are employees of the State;
(a) the Director General of the Ministry of Education and Culture;
(b) the Head of Cultural Administration in the Ministry of Education and Culture;
(c) the Director of Economic and Budgetary Administration in the Ministry of Education and Culture;
(d) the officer-in-charge of budgets in the Ministry of Finance;
(e) the Accountant-General;
(f) the Director of Planning in the Ministry of the Interior;
(g) the Director of the Planning and Economics Branch in the Ministry of Tourism
(h) the representative of the Minister of Agriculture to be appointed by the Minister of Agriculture.
(2) two representatives with archaeological background from two of the institutions of higher learning detailed below, each from a different institution, to be appointed after consultations with the Minister:
(a) the Hebrew University in Jerusalem;
(b) Tel-Aviv University;
(c) Haifa University;
(d) Bar-Ilan University;
(e) the Ben Gurion University of the Negev
(3) one member from among the members of the Israeli National Academy of Sciences, to be appointed by the Minister after consultations with the Academy, who will serve as the Council Chairman;
(4) the head of two local municipalities to be appointed by the Minister after consultations with the chairman of the local central government, as well as the head of the regional council, to be appointed by the Minister;
(5) the director of the museum that will display the antiquities to be appointed by the Minister after consultations with the Chairman of the Museums Council, in accordance with the Museums Act, 5743-19834;
(6) representative from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to be appointed by the Minister of Religious Affairs.
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(b) The government representative, mentioned in subsection (a) (1) (a) to (g), may appoint an alternate who, like himself, is employed by the State to participate in council meetings.
(c) Any council member who is not an employee of the State may appoint a permanent alternate in the same manner as a Council member is appointed.
(d) The minister may appoint one of the Council members to deputize as the Council Chairman.
Term of Office
7. (a) The term of office of a Council member who is not a government representative shall be for a period of four years; however, he may be reappointed for additional terms;
(b) A Council member whose term of office has ended shall continue in office until he is either re-elected or until the appointment of another member in his stead.
Guidelines for the Appointment of Council Member
8. The following shall not be appointed as a Council member:
(1) anyone charged with a shameful offence or who has been incarcerated prior to the passing of the period of limitation according to its meaning in the Criminal Registration Act and the measure for the benefit of repentant offenders, 5741-19815
(2) anyone who has a conflict of interest with respect to his business affairs and his membership in the Council; however, there will not be conflict of interest where the actual appointment of an individual to the Council comes as a result of his responsibility.
Reimbursement of Expenses
9. The Council chairman, his deputy and any Council member shall not accept any remuneration from the Authority for services rendered as part of their duties on the Council; however, they may claim coverage for reasonable expenses incurred as part of their duties on the Council, in an amount established by the Authority.
Expiration of a Term of Office
10. (a) A council member who is not a government representative shall terminate his term of office at the appointed time if:
(1) a letter of resignation is tendered to the Council Chairman;
(2) any of the conditions cited in paragraph 8 are breached;
(3) he is unable, on a consistant basis, to discharge his duty and the Minister, after consultation with the Council Chairman, will remove him from his position through written notification;
(4) he retires from the position to which he was appointed.
(b) The Council Chairman shall provide to the Minister the letter of resignation, as mentioned in subsection (a) (1), within 96 hours of receiving [said letter]. The resignation goes into force 48 hours after handing over the letter of resignation to the Minister, except when the Council member retracts his resignation in writing to the Minister.
(c) A Council member who is not a government representative, or a representative who is an employee of the State who was appointed to participate permanently in Council sittings as mentioned in subsection 6(b), and who is absent for an unjustifiable reason from four consecutive Council meetings, may be removed from his position in the Council by the Minister after consultation with the Council Chairman, or his appointment may be nullified, according to the circumstance, through written notification.
The Duty Rosters of the Council
11. (a) The Council shall establish for itself its own work routines and the administration of its deliberations inasmuch as these have not been established by this Law or pursuant to it.
(b) The legal quorum for Council meetings is at least seven members. If there was no legal quorum at the commencement of the meeting, the Council Chairman may postpone the meeting by thirty minutes. After this time has passed, the meeting shall be considered to be in session if there are at least five participating members, the Council Chairman or his deputy being counted among them.
(c) Once the meeting has duly commenced in accordance with subsection (a), the meeting shall duly continue with as many members as there are present.
(d) the Director, or whoever has been deputized in his place, may be present at Council meetings.
Deliberation on a Given Subject
12. If the Minister or five Council members wish to table a certain topic, the topic should be made part of the order paper for the next Council meeting.
Appointing a Subcommittee
13. The Council may appoint members to form a subcommittee, to establish a Chairman as part of its authority, to lessen the authority to establish general Council policy and the authority to approve its budget.
Authority
14. A decision of the Council or one of its subcommittees shall not be disqualified except where the seat of the Council member or the subcommittee member was vacant, for whatever reason, at the time that the decision was made.
Council Duties and Authorities
15. The Council, without detracting from its other duties, shall –
(1) establish the general [operating] policies of the Authority in the area of duties;
(2) approve the budget of the Authority;
(3) follow up on policy implementation, the programs and budgets of the Authority;
(4) deliberate over the financial reports provided to it by the Director.
General Council Rules
10. The Council, with the approval of the Minister, shall establish general rules for the operation of the sites, their administration and supervision.
Report
16. The Council shall provide to the Minister, at least once a year, a report on the activities of the Authority, and shall likewise provide to him, at his request, any information of its activities.
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