Israel set to cede parts of Jerusalem in peace deal

Israel set a higher threshold on Tuesday for any
future vote on ceding parts of Jerusalem to the
Palestinians.
Palestinians wanted the eastern part of the city
for a future independent state.
The amendment passed by the Israeli parliament
to existing legislation raised from 61 to 80 the
number of votes that would be required in the
120-seat Knesset to approve any proposal to
hand over part of the city to “a foreign party”.
The amendment, long in the legislative pipeline,
comes less than a month after U.S. President
Donald Trump angered the Palestinians, Middle
East leaders and world powers by recognizing
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
U.S. negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians have been frozen since 2014 but, if
ever resumed, a special Israeli parliament majority
to approve handing over parts of Jerusalem could
complicate efforts to reach a peace accord.
Trump’s Dec. 6 decision touched off protests in
the region and the Palestinians have said
Washington can no longer serve as a peace
broker.
A U.S. bid to revive negotiations, led by the
president’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared
Kushner, has so far shown no progress.
“The authority to relinquish parts of the land is
not in the hands of any Jew, nor of the Jewish
people,” said Naftali Bennett, head of the far-right
Jewish Home coalition party, which sponsored the
legislation.
Palestinian officials were not immediately
available for comment on the new amendment,
which passed by a vote of 64 to 52.
Opposition head Isaac Herzog said Jewish Home
was leading Israel “toward a terrible disaster”.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most
sensitive issues in the decades-old Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle
East war and annexed it in a move not recognised
internationally.
It says the entire city is its “eternal and
indivisible” capital.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the
capital of a future state that would also include
the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
Likud party unanimously urged legislators in a
non-binding resolution to effectively annex Israeli
settlements built in the West Bank.
Political commentators said the decision might
bolster right-wing support for Netanyahu, who
could seek a public mandate in an early election
while he awaits possible criminal indictments
against him on corruption suspicions. He denies
wrongdoing.
Parliamentary elections are not due until
November 2019 but the police investigations in
two cases of alleged corruption against
Netanyahu and tensions among coalition partners
in his government could hasten a poll.
Some commentators, pointing to an existing law
that already sets a similar high threshold for
handing over territory in a land-for-peace deal,
have said Jewish Home was essentially
competing with Likud for support among the
right-wing base. (Reuters/NAN)