ABSTRACT
The 6 June 1967 war eliminated Jordanian rule and organizational apparatus from the West Bank as the Israel Defence Force (IDF) assumed total control of the territory. Although Israeli policy toward Arab municipalities was officially determined by a strict reliance on the 1955 law, in practice the Military Government refrained from interfering in the municipal regime, as occurred under the Jordanian rule, and let the course of local rule have a free rein. In an attempt to return civilian life to its former pattern, Israel maintained the legal framework for the West Bank inherited from Jordan, and the only change inaugurated was to introduce the names "Judea" and "Samaria" instead of the "West Bank". Besides the movement of public personalities, some technical and administrative personnel within municipal government also left the area for Jordan and the Persian Gulf as Israeli rule continued. From the viewpoint of the local Arab mayors the division of authority within the Military Government was unsatisfactory.
