Israel vote on Jerusalem a ‘declaration of war’ says Abbas

ISRAEL’S parliament yesterday gave final approval to legislation aimed at making it more difficult for the government to hand the Palestinians parts of Jerusalem under any future peace deal.

The bill, approved by a 64 to 51 vote, is the latest blow to hopes for a twostate solution to the Israeli-palestinian conflict.

The office of Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the new Israeli law amounted to a “declaration of war”.

Formulated by Shuli Moalem-refaeli of the far-right Jewish Home party, the new law comes weeks after Mr Trump’s decision on Jerusalem sparked deadly protests in the Palestinian territories.

It also follows a vote earlier this week by the central committee of Likud, the party of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in favour of extending Israeli sovereignty over settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Likud vote was non-binding, but was a further expression of the hopes of many Right-wing Israelis who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.

The law approved yesterday determines that any ceding of lands considered by Israel to be part of Jerusalem would necessitate a two thirds majority vote in parliament – 80 out of 120 members of the Knesset.

It also changed the municipal definition of Jerusalem, which means that sectors of the city “could be declared separate entities”, a statement from parliament read. Right-wing politicians have suggested unilaterally breaking off overwhelmingly Palestinian areas of the city in a bid to increase its Jewish majority.

However, the new law is not necessarily definitive. It can be changed by a regular parliamentary majority of 61.