The Israeli parliament last week passed a law that will require a supermajority vote to cede control over any part of Jerusalem.
The move is Israel’s latest attempt to exert full control over Jerusalem since U.S. President Donald Trump recognized it as the Israeli capital. The new law shows how far away peace between Israel and Palestine remains.
The amendment to the Jerusalem Law requires approval from at least 80 of the 120 members of the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, to relinquish Israel’s control over any part of the city. The law also allows the government to remove Palestinian territories from Jerusalem and turn them instead into separate municipalities under Israeli control.
Israel claims Jerusalem as its united capital, while Palestinians want east Jerusalem to serve as the capital of their future state. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli law is “tantamount to declaring war on the Palestinian people.”
Alan Baker, director of the contemporary affairs institute with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told me the law serves more as a political statement. Lawmakers can repeal it with a simple majority of 61 parliamentary votes. “I can’t see any situation where Israel, whatever political party is leading, will give up any part of Jerusalem,” Baker said, ”so it’s probably more symbolic than anything else.”
Ramzy Baroud, editor of the…
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