Ministers approve bill aiming to take Jerusalem off the negotiating table

Legislation to put a seemingly insurmountable obstacle before any Israeli leader seeking to divide Jerusalem in diplomatic negotiations can move forward after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved it on Sunday.

 

The amendment to Basic Law: Jerusalem pushed by Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett states that giving up Israeli sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem would require approval by 80 MKs, two-thirds of the Knesset.

 

Bennett said that “uniting around the united Jerusalem bill will strengthen us in the world and prevent future pressures on Israel.”

 

“Jerusalem was saved from the disaster of division twice, [with efforts to divide the city] 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.”

 

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