by Edna Adato
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves bill stating that the government cannot conduct negotiations with a foreign entity about the division of Jerusalem or its partial relinquishment without receiving approval of 80 Knesset members.
New bill would make dividing
Jerusalem more difficult
|
Photo credit: Reuters  |
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation
approved Sunday a bill proposed by MK Yakov Litzman (United Torah
Judaism) stating that the government cannot conduct negotiations with a
foreign entity about the division of Jerusalem or its partial
relinquishment without receiving the approval of 80 Knesset members --
two-thirds of the legislature.
The explanatory portion of the bill states:
"Jerusalem is a city that was reunited. It will not be divided and no
part of it will be handed over to anyone. Jerusalem's sanctity was not
given to outsiders. This bill prevents the possibility that at any stage
in any political process there will be a discussion about the status of
the city of Jerusalem, the joy of the people in Israel. Due to past
incidents in which there were talks about giving away parts of the city,
it is necessary to create a law that will not even allow the
possibility as the starting point of negotiations."
With Jerusalem as a divisive issue in peace talks, some MKs worry that the new bill may hamper negotiations.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the
Ministerial Committee for Legislation as well as the Israeli peace
negotiation team, voted against the law and has stated that she will
file an appeal.
MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) called the bill
"another nail, maybe the last one, in the coffin of the negotiations
with the Palestinians," according to Israeli media reports.
The bill will not go through the Knesset's legislative process until after the appeal.
Edna Adato
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12719
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment