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Last update - 15:02 14/11/2007
Knesset give preliminary okay to bill requiring 80 MKs to divide J'lem
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
tags: Jerusalem, Israel 

The Knesset plenum passed in a preliminary vote Wednesday a bill that would make it far more difficult to divide Jerusalem in the context of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

54 MKs voted in favor of the bill, with 24 against. The Knesset holds preliminary votes on private bills, presented by individual MKs. Before being enacted into law, however, the bill must still be approved in committee and then pass three more plenum votes.

The bill, which was authored by Likud faction whip Gideon Sa'ar and 25 other rightist and religious MKs, would require the support of 80 MKs for any changes to the Basic Law: Jerusalem.
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An absolute majority of 61 MKs is currently needed to change the basic law, and raising the bar to 80 MKs would make it nearly impossible to gain Knesset approval for concessions on Jerusalem.

The timing of the bill is also significant, and is designed to warn the government that it cannot make concessions on the capital a few weeks before the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

The coalition apparently does not intend to try to scuttle the bill at this time, due to the fact that it has strong support in the right wing.

The government's liaison to the Knesset, MK Ruhama Avraham, also appears to be against trying to prevent the bill from passing, despite the fact that it was not discussed in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. Avraham's position is a result of the fact that she opposes discussing Jerusalem at such an early stage in the negotiations.

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      1.   Jerusalem has neve been an Arab city and certainly not an 11:11  |  Eli Horev 14/11/07
      2.   make it watertight increase the figure to 120 11:25  |  victor hardman 14/11/07
      3.   If Jerusalem is given to muslims g-d will act 11:37  |  Johnny 14/11/07
      4.   Would you share your wife? 11:51  |  Jerusalem Jew 14/11/07
      5.   Pretty irrelevant anyway 12:00  |  Murray 14/11/07
      6.   I support this bill. Israelis need to speak up. 12:00  |  Pavel 14/11/07
      7.   When a Jew stands in prayer on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, 12:23  |  Father Andrews 14/11/07
      8.   Never Gonna Give You Up 12:47  |  Rick Ashley 14/11/07
      9.   #5 Murry 13:13  |  Kobi 14/11/07
      10.   Who ever is against this bill.... 13:15  |  Kobi 14/11/07
      11.   Giving Jerusalem or Divide it is a stab in the back for Judaism. 13:31  |  Akram Zekaria 14/11/07
      12.   80% vote required 14:11  |  chaim grosz 14/11/07
      13.   Irrelevant too, Kobi 14:18  |  Murray 14/11/07
      14.   J`lem should be an international city 14:27  |  POP 14/11/07
      15.   How many embassies are there in Jerusalem....???? 14:29  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
      16.   Religious Asshats... 14:32  |  POP 14/11/07
      17.   NO POLITICIAN HAS ANY RIGHT TO GIVE AWAY HOLY LAND TO ANYBODY!! 15:11  |  Alon chiloni 14/11/07
      18.   Mecca Should Be An International City 15:15  |  Yishai Kohen 14/11/07
      19.   NOT 80, NOT 120 HAVE POWER TO TAKE THE LAND FROM TH JEWISH PEOPLE 15:15  |  Alon -Chiloni 14/11/07
      20.   PALESTINIANS Have No Partner! Israel WAKE UP & Smell REALITY. 16:15  |  Proud Pal Defender 14/11/07
      21.   Counter productive, but ultimately futile 16:44  |  Natallie Durson 14/11/07
      22.   #13 Murry 17:43  |  Kobi 14/11/07
      23.   #14 POP 17:48  |  Kobi 14/11/07
      24.   to DINO 17:50  |  קובי 14/11/07
      25.   JERUSALEM 18:52  |  DANIEL RIMOKH 14/11/07
      26.   #20Natallie- PALESTINIAN REFUSALS AREN`T OBSTACLES TO PEACE? 19:17  |  Mitch Iginer 14/11/07
      27.   # 21 19:29  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
      28.   Jerusalem is Israeli 100% forever. 19:53  |  leo 14/11/07
      29.   #14, we tried that already 20:26  |  Yoni Gross 14/11/07
      30.   #27, what`s changed? 20:41  |  Yoni Gross 14/11/07
      31.   # 30 Yoni Gross 21:39  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
      32.   G_D will destroy the muslim dome. 21:58  |  leo 14/11/07
      33.   #31, Swiss (Dino) 22:20  |  Yoni Gross 14/11/07
      34.   holy city captured in 1967 22:46  |  goldman 14/11/07
      35.   #8 23:28  |  Hilda 14/11/07
      36.   Levels of government 00:00  |  Sherlock Holmes 15/11/07
      37.   #7 Which way do Christians face? 00:03  |  Ben Azai 15/11/07
      38.   PIECE FOR PEACE? 17:12  |  MATT 15/11/07
      39.   #32 - Isn`t that dome built on Esther`s tomb? 03:19  |  Steve 17/11/07
      40.   One and only one reason for a Pal state 03:33  |  Steve 17/11/07
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