9 jan 2018
Extremist Israeli settlers continued to storm, on Monday morning, Al Aqsa Mosque, heavily guarded by Israeli occupation forces and police.
According to Jerusalem sources, about 34 Jewish extremists stormed al-Aqsa mosque, from Mughrabi Gate, wandering in the courtyards where they received explanations about alleged temple.
The mosque witnessed the presence of worshipers, students of the Quran, and al-Aqsa guards who approached the settlers and prevented them from touring freely in the courtyards.
Israeli settlers raid the Islamic holy site on a daily basis, in an attempt to apply their plan to divide the mosque temporally and spatially.
According to Jerusalem sources, about 34 Jewish extremists stormed al-Aqsa mosque, from Mughrabi Gate, wandering in the courtyards where they received explanations about alleged temple.
The mosque witnessed the presence of worshipers, students of the Quran, and al-Aqsa guards who approached the settlers and prevented them from touring freely in the courtyards.
Israeli settlers raid the Islamic holy site on a daily basis, in an attempt to apply their plan to divide the mosque temporally and spatially.
8 jan 2018
Israeli municipality in Occupied Jerusalem demolished the wall of the Yusufiya cemetery, which is adjacent to external gate of Bab al-Asbat in the holy city amid excavation works in the area.
Amr Radwan, Head of the Heritage and Manuscripts Department at al-Aqsa, said over Facebook that Israeli authorities have been conducting deep excavations, using bulldozers, exactly before Bab al-Asbat area, for a few days.
He pointed out that the ongoing excavations have reached historic courses in the same area.
Israeli authorities also removed the cemetery historic stairs a few weeks ago and banned Palestinians from passing through Bab al-Asbat gate to the north, he added.
Amr Radwan, Head of the Heritage and Manuscripts Department at al-Aqsa, said over Facebook that Israeli authorities have been conducting deep excavations, using bulldozers, exactly before Bab al-Asbat area, for a few days.
He pointed out that the ongoing excavations have reached historic courses in the same area.
Israeli authorities also removed the cemetery historic stairs a few weeks ago and banned Palestinians from passing through Bab al-Asbat gate to the north, he added.
5 jan 2018
A number of Palestinian and Arab TV channels have decided to launch a joint broadcast on Saturday as part of a media campaign to support Jerusalem a month after the US president Donald Trump's recognition of the holy city as Israel's capital.
Different issues related to Jerusalem and the repercussions of the US decision will be discussed in the campaign which will coincide with another campaign on social media platforms under the hashtag "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine".
The campaign followed calls by many Palestinian factions to launch protests in all Palestinian territories on Friday and Saturday against the US decision announced a month ago.
Different issues related to Jerusalem and the repercussions of the US decision will be discussed in the campaign which will coincide with another campaign on social media platforms under the hashtag "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine".
The campaign followed calls by many Palestinian factions to launch protests in all Palestinian territories on Friday and Saturday against the US decision announced a month ago.
Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, Sheikh Mohammed Husein, on Friday condemned the decisions made recently by the Israeli occupation and the US on Jerusalem and said they are null and void.
Sheikh Husein stressed that the Israeli unjust laws passed lately fall in line with Israel's attempts to legitimize its occupation of the Palestinian land and the crimes committed against the Palestinian people.
Husein slammed the Knesset's approval of a bill that allows imposing death penalty on Palestinian prisoners and described it as "racist par excellence".
He also criticized the Arab countries' procrastination in implementing the resolutions of the previous Arab summits and closing their embassies in all countries that plan to move their embassies in Israel to Jerusalem.
Thousands of Palestinian worshipers from Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied Palestine performed Friday prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque despite the cold weather, heavy rain, and tightened Israeli security measures.
Sheikh Husein stressed that the Israeli unjust laws passed lately fall in line with Israel's attempts to legitimize its occupation of the Palestinian land and the crimes committed against the Palestinian people.
Husein slammed the Knesset's approval of a bill that allows imposing death penalty on Palestinian prisoners and described it as "racist par excellence".
He also criticized the Arab countries' procrastination in implementing the resolutions of the previous Arab summits and closing their embassies in all countries that plan to move their embassies in Israel to Jerusalem.
Thousands of Palestinian worshipers from Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied Palestine performed Friday prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque despite the cold weather, heavy rain, and tightened Israeli security measures.
By Ramzy Baroud
The Israeli government is planning a series of measures aimed at fully denying Palestinians their legal rights in Jerusalem and precluding any future peace settlement based on sharing the city between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
One of the most aggressive measures to date is a bill that was approved by the Israeli Knesset on Tuesday, January 2.
The bill, which passed with the support of Israel’s ruling rightwing and far-right coalition has several dangerous stipulations.
According to the bill, two thirds of the Knesset majority is required for Israel to relinquish sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem. International law insists that Israel has no sovereignty over East Jerusalem, illegally occupied and annexed in 1967 and 1980 respectively.
An equally disturbing stipulation in the bill is that it removes two Palestinian neighborhoods from the municipal jurisdiction of the city.
The two affected neighborhoods are Kufr Aqab and the Shufat refugee camp.
By doing so, the Israeli government would have achieved another milestone in its demographic war on Palestinians.
It is important to note that the two Palestinian areas are located on the other side of what Israel refers to as the ‘Separation Wall’.
This move confirms the assumption that the Wall was built around Palestinians areas that Israel plans to annex in the future.
Now, that the wall construction is at an advanced stage, the process of annexation seems to have begun.
But the latest bill – dubbed by Palestinians as the ‘race law’ for it aims at vacating Jerusalem from Palestinian Arabs and increasing the number of the city’s Jewish settlers – is a rewritten version of an earlier bill.
‘The Greater Jerusalem Law‘, which was poised to win a majority vote at the Knesset was only shelved temporarily.
The delayed bill called for expanding the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem to include major illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including Ma’aleh Adumim and the Gush Etzion settlement cluster.
Moreover, it endeavored to bring 150,000 Jewish settlers into Jerusalem as eligible voters, who would naturally tip the political scene more to the right.
Concurrently, the law would further demote the status of 100,000 Palestinians, who would find themselves in a politically gray area.
That bill was cast aside only weeks before the United States government agreed to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
While many in the international community were focused on what the American move would mean for the future of the region and the so-called peace process, few paid heed to the fact that the US and Israel had something far more consequential in mind.
News agencies at the time reported that Israel agreed to shelf a popular bill “under US pressure.” But that ‘pressure’ only aimed at giving President Donald Trump the needed time to formulate his own strategy and make the troubling announcement.
Since then, many Palestinians were killed, hundreds wounded and more detained as Palestinians and their allies around the world displayed outrage by the US decision.
A symbolic but telling vote at the United Nations on December 21 showed that the US and Israel stood alone in their fight to deny Palestinians their rights in their unlawfully occupied city.
Wasting no time, Israeli lawmakers are now pushing forward with designs to further isolate Jerusalem and to empty it from its Palestinian inhabitants.
They understand that the unparalleled US support must be exploited to the maximum, and that any delay on these bills would certainly be missed opportunities.
The nature of the US-Israel coordination is indeed unprecedented. Just as the Knesset voted to approve the bill, the US moved quickly to cap any strong Palestinian reactions.
That job was entrusted to US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who has gone further than any other US official in her attempt to intimidate, and even bully Palestinians.
Haley declared that the US will cut off US funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and will only resume funding when the Palestinians agree to return to the negotiations.
UNRWA is the main channel for support for Palestinians refugees. That decision will further tighten the noose on a struggling Palestinian economy and the Palestinian Authority which relies mostly on international aid to survive.
Haley, of course, understands that no Palestinian leadership can engage politically with Israel and the US when the two countries refuse to accept international law as a frame of reference in the negotiations.
Now, the Palestinian leadership has to choose between its existing humiliation or further humiliation.
But Haley’s threat is also aimed at changing the conversation, and taking the focus away from the racist Israeli bill that will surely lead to further annexation in Jerusalem itself and throughout the West Bank.
The US and Israel are now actively invested in a system of political Apartheid in Palestine, and are twisting the arm of the PA to facilitate such a dreadful regime.
PA officials have made many threats so far, including the exclusion of the US from the peace process and changing their demand to a one state solution.
But there is nothing concrete so far regarding that coveted Palestinian strategy; one that is predicated on a united Palestinian leadership that truly explores new options, allies and future outlook.
It is that lack of vision that compromises the Palestinian position even further, emboldening Israel to push forward with its racist laws and apartheid walls.
– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
The Israeli government is planning a series of measures aimed at fully denying Palestinians their legal rights in Jerusalem and precluding any future peace settlement based on sharing the city between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
One of the most aggressive measures to date is a bill that was approved by the Israeli Knesset on Tuesday, January 2.
The bill, which passed with the support of Israel’s ruling rightwing and far-right coalition has several dangerous stipulations.
According to the bill, two thirds of the Knesset majority is required for Israel to relinquish sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem. International law insists that Israel has no sovereignty over East Jerusalem, illegally occupied and annexed in 1967 and 1980 respectively.
An equally disturbing stipulation in the bill is that it removes two Palestinian neighborhoods from the municipal jurisdiction of the city.
The two affected neighborhoods are Kufr Aqab and the Shufat refugee camp.
By doing so, the Israeli government would have achieved another milestone in its demographic war on Palestinians.
It is important to note that the two Palestinian areas are located on the other side of what Israel refers to as the ‘Separation Wall’.
This move confirms the assumption that the Wall was built around Palestinians areas that Israel plans to annex in the future.
Now, that the wall construction is at an advanced stage, the process of annexation seems to have begun.
But the latest bill – dubbed by Palestinians as the ‘race law’ for it aims at vacating Jerusalem from Palestinian Arabs and increasing the number of the city’s Jewish settlers – is a rewritten version of an earlier bill.
‘The Greater Jerusalem Law‘, which was poised to win a majority vote at the Knesset was only shelved temporarily.
The delayed bill called for expanding the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem to include major illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including Ma’aleh Adumim and the Gush Etzion settlement cluster.
Moreover, it endeavored to bring 150,000 Jewish settlers into Jerusalem as eligible voters, who would naturally tip the political scene more to the right.
Concurrently, the law would further demote the status of 100,000 Palestinians, who would find themselves in a politically gray area.
That bill was cast aside only weeks before the United States government agreed to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
While many in the international community were focused on what the American move would mean for the future of the region and the so-called peace process, few paid heed to the fact that the US and Israel had something far more consequential in mind.
News agencies at the time reported that Israel agreed to shelf a popular bill “under US pressure.” But that ‘pressure’ only aimed at giving President Donald Trump the needed time to formulate his own strategy and make the troubling announcement.
Since then, many Palestinians were killed, hundreds wounded and more detained as Palestinians and their allies around the world displayed outrage by the US decision.
A symbolic but telling vote at the United Nations on December 21 showed that the US and Israel stood alone in their fight to deny Palestinians their rights in their unlawfully occupied city.
Wasting no time, Israeli lawmakers are now pushing forward with designs to further isolate Jerusalem and to empty it from its Palestinian inhabitants.
They understand that the unparalleled US support must be exploited to the maximum, and that any delay on these bills would certainly be missed opportunities.
The nature of the US-Israel coordination is indeed unprecedented. Just as the Knesset voted to approve the bill, the US moved quickly to cap any strong Palestinian reactions.
That job was entrusted to US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who has gone further than any other US official in her attempt to intimidate, and even bully Palestinians.
Haley declared that the US will cut off US funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and will only resume funding when the Palestinians agree to return to the negotiations.
UNRWA is the main channel for support for Palestinians refugees. That decision will further tighten the noose on a struggling Palestinian economy and the Palestinian Authority which relies mostly on international aid to survive.
Haley, of course, understands that no Palestinian leadership can engage politically with Israel and the US when the two countries refuse to accept international law as a frame of reference in the negotiations.
Now, the Palestinian leadership has to choose between its existing humiliation or further humiliation.
But Haley’s threat is also aimed at changing the conversation, and taking the focus away from the racist Israeli bill that will surely lead to further annexation in Jerusalem itself and throughout the West Bank.
The US and Israel are now actively invested in a system of political Apartheid in Palestine, and are twisting the arm of the PA to facilitate such a dreadful regime.
PA officials have made many threats so far, including the exclusion of the US from the peace process and changing their demand to a one state solution.
But there is nothing concrete so far regarding that coveted Palestinian strategy; one that is predicated on a united Palestinian leadership that truly explores new options, allies and future outlook.
It is that lack of vision that compromises the Palestinian position even further, emboldening Israel to push forward with its racist laws and apartheid walls.
– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
4 jan 2018
Dozens of extremist Israeli settlers stormed on Thursday morning al-Aqsa Mosque from Al-Maghariba gate guarded by Israeli Special Forces.
About 60 settlers entered the compound in several groups, staging provocative tours in various areas of the yards, according to local sources.
The sources pointed out that Israeli police provided full protection to the extremists during the raid, which included explanations by Jewish guides about the alleged Temple.
Hebrew reports revealed that Israeli settlers’ break-ins into al-Aqsa Mosque were increased by 75% during 2017.
Temple Mount organization said that 25,628 Israeli settlers stormed the holy shrine last year under police protection.
About 60 settlers entered the compound in several groups, staging provocative tours in various areas of the yards, according to local sources.
The sources pointed out that Israeli police provided full protection to the extremists during the raid, which included explanations by Jewish guides about the alleged Temple.
Hebrew reports revealed that Israeli settlers’ break-ins into al-Aqsa Mosque were increased by 75% during 2017.
Temple Mount organization said that 25,628 Israeli settlers stormed the holy shrine last year under police protection.
3 jan 2017
In violation of a longstanding agreement between Jordan and Israel, which prevents non-Muslim religious rituals from being performed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, a group of Israelis reportedly performed a marriage ritual inside the compound on Wednesday.
WAFA reported, according to Ma’an, that a group of right-wing ultra-religious Israelis performed a marriage ritual under the protection of Israeli police.
While Jewish visitation is permitted to the compound, non-Muslim worship at Al-Aqsa is prohibited according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government, after Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
Despite the agreement with Jordan — which is the custodian of Al-Aqsa — Israeli authorities regularly allow Jewish visitors to enter the site, often under armed guard. Such visits are typically made by right-wingers attempting to unsettle the status quo at the site, and coincide with restrictions on Palestinian access, including bans on entrance and detentions.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque. The third holiest site in Islam, it is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place, as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood.
WAFA reported, according to Ma’an, that a group of right-wing ultra-religious Israelis performed a marriage ritual under the protection of Israeli police.
While Jewish visitation is permitted to the compound, non-Muslim worship at Al-Aqsa is prohibited according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government, after Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
Despite the agreement with Jordan — which is the custodian of Al-Aqsa — Israeli authorities regularly allow Jewish visitors to enter the site, often under armed guard. Such visits are typically made by right-wingers attempting to unsettle the status quo at the site, and coincide with restrictions on Palestinian access, including bans on entrance and detentions.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque. The third holiest site in Islam, it is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place, as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood.
The Israeli Knesset approved, on Monday night, the second and third readings of the so-called United Jerusalem Bill, which takes occupied Jerusalem from any future deal with Palestinians.
Sources said, according to Days of Palestine, that 64 extremist Jewish MKs voted in favour of the bill, while 51 voted against it, including the Arabs, and one abstained.
The bill was proposed by the chairman of the extremist Jewish Home party and the Education Minister Naftali Bennett, and was submitted by MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli.
It stipulates that a majority of 80 MKs will be required to change the status of Jerusalem or for any transfer of territories from Jerusalem within the framework of a future diplomatic agreement.
Previously, a majority of only 61 MKs was required.
Israeli Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin welcomed the approval of the bill. “I congratulate the Knesset on the approval by a large majority of the amendment to the Basic Law,” he said.
He wrote on Twitter: “Jerusalem, which strengthens the defensive wall against those on the left who may try to harm Israeli sovereignty in united Jerusalem in the future.”
Bennett, meanwhile, welcomed the approval and wrote on Facebook: “Just now we ensured that Jerusalem will be united forever. We initiated the law that guards Jerusalem so that it cannot be divided without a huge majority of 80 MKs.”
Zionist Jewish gangs occupied the Western part of Jerusalem 1948 along with most of Palestine’s area. In 1967, they occupied the Eastern part along with the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.
Challenging the international community, in 1980, Israel announced united Jerusalem as its capital, arousing a UN Security Council resolution calling any Israeli measure that changes the legal status of Jerusalem city is “null and void.”
However, on 6 December, 2017, the US President Donald Trump recognized united Jerusalem as the “eternal capital of the state of Israel” and announced plan to relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Sources said, according to Days of Palestine, that 64 extremist Jewish MKs voted in favour of the bill, while 51 voted against it, including the Arabs, and one abstained.
The bill was proposed by the chairman of the extremist Jewish Home party and the Education Minister Naftali Bennett, and was submitted by MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli.
It stipulates that a majority of 80 MKs will be required to change the status of Jerusalem or for any transfer of territories from Jerusalem within the framework of a future diplomatic agreement.
Previously, a majority of only 61 MKs was required.
Israeli Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin welcomed the approval of the bill. “I congratulate the Knesset on the approval by a large majority of the amendment to the Basic Law,” he said.
He wrote on Twitter: “Jerusalem, which strengthens the defensive wall against those on the left who may try to harm Israeli sovereignty in united Jerusalem in the future.”
Bennett, meanwhile, welcomed the approval and wrote on Facebook: “Just now we ensured that Jerusalem will be united forever. We initiated the law that guards Jerusalem so that it cannot be divided without a huge majority of 80 MKs.”
Zionist Jewish gangs occupied the Western part of Jerusalem 1948 along with most of Palestine’s area. In 1967, they occupied the Eastern part along with the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.
Challenging the international community, in 1980, Israel announced united Jerusalem as its capital, arousing a UN Security Council resolution calling any Israeli measure that changes the legal status of Jerusalem city is “null and void.”
However, on 6 December, 2017, the US President Donald Trump recognized united Jerusalem as the “eternal capital of the state of Israel” and announced plan to relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
2 jan 2018
Hebrew website "0404" on Tuesday reported that the US president Donald Trump has confirmed his plan to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018.
It added that Trump is pressuring the logistics staff in Washington, in coordination with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to start the transfer soon.
A source at the White House told the Hebrew website that Trump has sent a clear message to Israel that he wants to start the relocation as soon as possible.
The website, which is known for being close to the Israeli army, noted that the US embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv in the 1948 occupied Palestine to a diplomatic hotel in Occupied Jerusalem.
Israel occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem in 1967. In 1980 it declared its annexation to West Jerusalem which had been occupied since 1948 and announced Jerusalem the "eternal capital" of Israel, a move which the international community refuses to recognize.
On 6th December 2017 Trump recognized Occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the US embassy in Israel to the holy city.
The Knesset on Monday approved the "unified Jerusalem" bill in the second and third readings with 61 votes in favor and 51 against. The bill stipulates that any decision related to relinquishing parts of Jerusalem will require the consent of 80 MKs.
It added that Trump is pressuring the logistics staff in Washington, in coordination with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to start the transfer soon.
A source at the White House told the Hebrew website that Trump has sent a clear message to Israel that he wants to start the relocation as soon as possible.
The website, which is known for being close to the Israeli army, noted that the US embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv in the 1948 occupied Palestine to a diplomatic hotel in Occupied Jerusalem.
Israel occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem in 1967. In 1980 it declared its annexation to West Jerusalem which had been occupied since 1948 and announced Jerusalem the "eternal capital" of Israel, a move which the international community refuses to recognize.
On 6th December 2017 Trump recognized Occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the US embassy in Israel to the holy city.
The Knesset on Monday approved the "unified Jerusalem" bill in the second and third readings with 61 votes in favor and 51 against. The bill stipulates that any decision related to relinquishing parts of Jerusalem will require the consent of 80 MKs.
The "unified Jerusalem" bill which provides for separating Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem and prohibits relinquishing any part of the city under any future agreement has passed its second and third readings at the Israeli Knesset.
Any decision relating to Jerusalem, the bill stipulated, will require the consent of 80 MKs—even in the case of a peace agreement.
64 MKs supported the bill and 51 objected. MK Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid) ended up abstaining, despite his intention of voting against it.
The bill, filed by the Jewish Home party, requires the approval of 80 MKs for any decision to hand over parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority in the future.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation ratified the bill several months ago, and it was amended later to settle differences of opinion in the government coalition.
Initiated by Israeli ministers Naftali Bennett and Ze'ev Elkin, the bill is aimed at preparing for future steps to cut off Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem and establish a new Israeli local council for them. The project mainly targets Kafr Aqab and Shu'fat neighborhoods.
The "unified Jerusalem" bill was set to face a vote earlier but Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had decided to postpone the vote following the U.S. president Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Any decision relating to Jerusalem, the bill stipulated, will require the consent of 80 MKs—even in the case of a peace agreement.
64 MKs supported the bill and 51 objected. MK Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid) ended up abstaining, despite his intention of voting against it.
The bill, filed by the Jewish Home party, requires the approval of 80 MKs for any decision to hand over parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority in the future.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation ratified the bill several months ago, and it was amended later to settle differences of opinion in the government coalition.
Initiated by Israeli ministers Naftali Bennett and Ze'ev Elkin, the bill is aimed at preparing for future steps to cut off Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem and establish a new Israeli local council for them. The project mainly targets Kafr Aqab and Shu'fat neighborhoods.
The "unified Jerusalem" bill was set to face a vote earlier but Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had decided to postpone the vote following the U.S. president Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
1 jan 2018
The Knesset is set on Monday to vote on the "unified Jerusalem" bill which provides for separating Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem and prohibits relinquishing any part of the city under any future agreement.
The bill, filed by the Jewish Home party, requires the approval of 80 MKs for any decision to hand over parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority in the future. The Ministerial Committee for Legislation ratified the bill several months ago, and it was amended later to settle differences of opinion in the government coalition.
Initiated by Israeli ministers Naftali Bennett and Ze'ev Elkin, the bill is aimed at preparing for future steps to cut off Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem and establish a new Israeli local council for them. The project mainly targets Kafr Aqab and Shu'fat neighborhoods.
The "unified Jerusalem" bill was set to face a vote earlier but Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had decided to postpone the vote following the US president Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The bill, filed by the Jewish Home party, requires the approval of 80 MKs for any decision to hand over parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority in the future. The Ministerial Committee for Legislation ratified the bill several months ago, and it was amended later to settle differences of opinion in the government coalition.
Initiated by Israeli ministers Naftali Bennett and Ze'ev Elkin, the bill is aimed at preparing for future steps to cut off Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem and establish a new Israeli local council for them. The project mainly targets Kafr Aqab and Shu'fat neighborhoods.
The "unified Jerusalem" bill was set to face a vote earlier but Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had decided to postpone the vote following the US president Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
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