ERETZ ISRAEL

The Jerusalem Law: More Relevant Than Ever

By: Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org

Published: April 2, 2015

In 1949, when the state of Israel was only 19 months old, David Ben-Gurion said: “The state of Israel has had and will have only one capital: Jerusalem the Eternal. This is how it was 3,000 years ago, and this is how it will be, as we believe, until the end of all generations.”

This quote is the basis for Israel’s unique Basic Law on Jerusalem, initiated by then-MK Geulah Cohen in 1980. Since then the law has undergone several changes, as well as one near-change that could have taken the city’s status to new heights – but was rejected.

PORTION OF THE KOTEL

Let’s return to 1967. The Israel Defense Forces repelled the Arabs on three fronts and retook the Old City, reuniting Yerushalayim. The barbed wire and concrete barriers that had divided Jerusalem – for only 19 years of its 3,000-year history – were torn down and Israeli law, jurisdiction, and administration was extended to the eastern neighborhoods of the city.

Incidentally, Jerusalem’s Arab residents were immediately offered full Israeli citizenship, but most declined to accept it. Nevertheless, they retain the right to participate in municipal elections and enjoy all economic and social benefits afforded to citizens, including Israel’s health funds, social security, and more. They may maintain their own humanitarian, educational, and social institutions, but, as agreed in the original Oslo Accords of 1993, PA political institutions may not operate in Jerusalem.

Following the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, the Knesset passed the Preservation of the Holy Places Law, ensuring protection and freedom of access to the city’s holy sites. But what about Jerusalem itself?  That took 13 more years. In 1980, the Knesset legislated Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel. As Geulah Cohen wrote in the bill’s introduction, “Until today, there has been no law that states clearly the status of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital; MK Menachem Begin proposed such a bill in November 1949, but it was not passed. Neither is there any law regarding the unity and integrity of both parts of the city.”

The 1980 law thus states that “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel” and the seat of its main governing bodies.

Six months before his assassination in 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made his position on Jerusalem very clear: “All governments of Israel, including the present government, have been fully confident that what was determined in 1967, what was legislated in 1980 transforming Jerusalem into a unified city under Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel, the heart of the Jewish people – these are facts that will endure for eternity”.

Since then, Israeli governments have consistently reiterated their position that while religious/cultural rights of all the city’s communities are to be guaranteed, Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel, undivided, under exclusive Israeli sovereignty.

The ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority raised fears that some of the holy city, such as the Western Wall and other parts of or all of the Old City, might be handed over to foreign control. Thus, in 2000, three amendments were made to the 1980 Basic Law. Among them was this: “No part of the city may be transferred to foreign political or governmental rule.”

The question then becomes: In light of the fact that man-made laws are temporary by their very nature, what guarantee is there that, given a particular Israeli political constellation and international pressure, the Knesset will not vote to revoke the law and actually hand over parts of Jerusalem to foreign control?

The politicians of the time attempted to deal with this question and stipulated that the law may be changed only by a “special” majority, namely, 61 members of the 120-member Knesset.

Many felt that this is not sufficient. Given, as stated, a particular Israeli political constellation and sufficiently strong international pressure – not to mention 13 Arab-party MKs, as are about to enter the Knesset – even 61 Knesset members could conceivably be mustered to vote against Israeli sovereignty over the entire united city. For those who doubt, look up Alex Goldfarb and Gonen Segev, who were “persuaded” – with the help of appointments to ministerial and deputy-ministerial posts, respectively – to vote against the ideology on which they had been elected to the Knesset and in favor of the 1995 Oslo Agreement.

Thus, attempts were made to pass a law that would not allow any changes to the Jerusalem Law unless at least 80 MKs vote for them.

In 2007, then-Likud faction head Gideon Saar filed a motion to that end, saying that that the Knesset is obligated to protect Jerusalem and its “special meaning to the Jewish people.” This motion was ultimately buried, but in late 2013 the idea had more success – but only slightly

The ministerial committee on legislation voted in favor of an 80-MK Jerusalem majority bill, proposed by Yaakov Litzman of United Torah Judaism. This meant the government was supposed to support it in the Knesset. However, when it actually came to a Knesset vote, in December 2013, nearly the entire Likud faction, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and current President Ruby Rivlin, absented themselves from the vote. It was defeated by a 51-12 margin.

Opposition head Yitzhak Herzog said at the time that the vote had saved Israel from “irreversible damage” in the international arena. Meretz Party chief Zahava Gal’on said that the Netanyahu government had shamed itself in that “the coalition members ran away [from the vote] and the opposition saved the fate of the diplomatic talks.”

Such reactions clearly reveal the importance of requiring an 80-MK majority in order to effect changes. They prove that there are many mainstream elements in Israel – including those who nearly won the recent election – who insist on doing whatever they can to enable the division of Jerusalem and the transfer of parts thereof to the Palestinian Authority.

About the Author: Chaim Silberstein is president of Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech and the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund. He was formerly a senior adviser to Israel's minister of tourism. Hillel Fendel, past senior editor at Israel National News/Arutz-7, is a veteran writer on Jerusalem affairs. Both have lived in Jerusalem and now reside in Beit El.