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Bennett wants to make it much harder to divide Jerusalem
Education Minister Naftali Bennett is reportedly set to propose legislation that would require a special two-thirds Knesset majority on any decision to divide Jerusalem under a future peace deal with the Palestinians.
Bennett, who leads the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, says he wants to amend the Basic Law on Jerusalem so that votes to divide the city will require the approval of 80 MKs to pass, as opposed to a regular majority, Israel Hayom reported on Friday.
The proposal will come up for approval in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, presided over by Bennett’s fellow party member Justice Ministry Ayelet Shaked, within two weeks, the report said.
A spokesman for the Jewish Home party was quoted as saying that the proposed legislation was intended to strengthen Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position vis-a-vis the new administration of US President Donald Trump.
“Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish people,” Bennett told Israel Hayom. “I see the Trump era as an opportunity to strengthen Jerusalem so that it will never be possible to divide it again.”
Bennett said that he was concerned that a future temporary coalition may agree to divide the city, whose eastern neighborhoods, including the Old City, the Palestinians claim for their future capital.
“I am working to enact this law to prevent any situation in the future,” Bennett said, “where a fleeting consensus, such as the ones under [prime ministers] Ehud Olmert or Ehud Barak, will lead to the division of Jerusalem.”
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