National Defence Act (Arab Union)

The National Defence Act (Arabic: قانون الدفاع الوطنية qānūn ad-difā‘ waṭanīyah) is an act passed by the Palestine Arab Congress on 15 January 1979; it functions as the enabling legislation for the constitution and funding of the Palestinian Armed Forces and the Palestinian National Guard, similar to the National Police Act for the Palestine National Police.

The Act reorganised the Palestinian military establishment in a number of respects, including, but not limited to, the formation of three separate services (the Palestinian Army, Navy and Air Force) out of the formerly unified All-Palestine Army, the constitution of a national militia service directly answerable to the President of Palestine in the form of the Palestinian National Guard, and the organisation of a complex civilian administrative and logistical hierarchy responsible for the direct support of the armed forces. The Act also set out the process by which the defence budget is drafted and implemented.