Violation of the DetailAll
- Let us return to the operative aspect of the particular. Once the conditions have been fulfilled and the required approvals have been received, and since the Patriarchate has not announced its intention to choose the alternative of Draft B (and there is no dispute about this), what is the obligation imposed on the parties as a result? Did the parties fulfill this obligation? In order to answer these questions, we will keep in mind the provisions of three of the sections of the Detail (emphases added below).
The first provision is found in section 3 of the detail cited above. This provision states that when the required approval is obtained, then -
"[...] Subject to this approval, the settlement agreement (Draft A) will be signed in full by the parties, within 7 days of the government's approval."
The second provision is found in clause 6.1 of the Particular, which reads as follows:
"For the avoidance of doubt:
6.1. What is stated in Drafts A and/or B will not bind the Jewish National Fund or the Patriarchate, except upon the full signature of any of the aforementioned documents as stated in section 3 or 4 above (as the case may be); and all the rights of the parties towards each other as well as against any other party are fully reserved."
The third provision is found in section 8 of the Particular, which stipulates that:
"All parties undertake to cooperate with each other and to do their best in order to implement what was agreed upon in all these details as soon as possible."
- The combination of the above three contractual clauses creates a fabric that must be viewed as a whole.
At the base of the fabric is the provision enshrined in section 3 of the Clause. The plain meaning of Scripture is that this stipulation, which uses the language "Will be signed", expresses an operational directive from the British Mandate imposed on the parties A must Sign the settlement agreement within the stipulated time period. In other words, the parties Commit to each other that after receiving the required approvals, they will sign on the settlement agreement within 7 days of the government's approval (or at another date to be agreed upon). This, prima facie, is without leaving them with discretion as to whether to do so or not.