An Israeli ministerial panel has advanced a proposed law blocking negotiations on any partition of Jerusalem, local media reported Sunday.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the bill, allowing it to go to a vote in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously vetoed the progression of the bill.
The proposal would amend Israel’s Basic Law, requiring a three-quarter majority vote in the Knesset to hand any part of Jerusalem over to the Palestinians.
RT MaanNewsAgency "Israeli ministers approve bill 'prohibiting division of Jerusalem' in future peace talks … pic.twitter.com/S1odIcxb3G"
— Richard Hardigan (@RichardHardigan) July 16, 2017
Palestinians insist that any state established as part of a two-state solution should include East Jerusalem as its capital but Israel claims Jerusalem as its “undivided, eternal capital” and hardliners object to the city being partitioned.
The law has been proposed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the hardline right-wing Jewish Home party.
Jewish Home, Likud Ministers Agree To Work On Bill Preventing Division Of Jerusalemhttps://t.co/h4Sx8sOCxC
— Aaron Klein (@AaronKleinShow) July 4, 2017
“Jerusalem was saved from the disaster of division twice, led by [former prime ministers] Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, who had a temporary majority in the Knesset,” Bennett recounted. “That’s over. The united Jerusalem bill…will prevent any possibility of dividing Jerusalem.”
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
