The new law the Knesset has passed requiring a national referendum to approve any future withdrawal from east Jerusalem adds another obstacle to what is becoming a long list of hurdles Israel is setting up to hinder any future peace deal with the Palestinians. The number of Israelis who would give up Jerusalem can be counted on one hand, for there is widespread opposition in Israel to dividing the city. A poll conducted in June 2013 found that 74 percent of Israeli Jews reject the idea of a Palestinian capital in any portion of Jerusalem. According to legislation, Jerusalem has the highest national priority status in Israel. The law prioritizes construction throughout the city, and offers grants and tax benefits to residents to make housing, infrastructure, education, employment, business, tourism and cultural events more affordable. The bill sends a clear, unequivocal political message that Jerusalem will not be divided and that all those within the Palestinian and international community who expect the current Israeli government to accept any demands regarding Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem are gravely mistaken. The Jerusalem law is the latest in a string of stumbling blocks put up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to thwart a peace deal. He has, for one, ruled out any deal with the Palestinians unless they recognize Israel as the Jewish state and give up Palestinian refugees' right of return. But the right of return of refugees who were forced out of their homes or fled in 1948 when Israel became a state cannot be negated. There were 760,000 at the time, but now, with their descendants, their numbers have swollen to around five million. Netanyahu also recently said he was opposed to freezing construction in settlements as a means to extend the peace talks with Palestinians. The premier's logic is that the 10-month construction moratorium in 2010 brought no results. Of course it didn't. The talks could not continue when new settlement building in the West Bank increased by 123.7 percent last year. And as Netanyahu comes up with one stonewalling effort after the other, core Palestinian demands that, for example, Israel must recognize a Palestinian state along the lines that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, in which Israeli forces captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, are met with either resistance, downright refusal, delaying tactics or unrelated impediments. Israel annexed east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek as their capital, though its control is not internationally recognized. No country in the world except for Israel has recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The majority of UN member states and most international organizations consistently affirm their position that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and do not recognize Israel's ownership of East Jerusalem which occurred after the 1967 war, nor its 1980 Jerusalem Law proclamation which declared a “complete and united” Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Neither the US nor the EU recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. As a result, foreign embassies are generally located in Tel Aviv. Still, Netanyahu has stated that Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and will remain under Israeli sovereignty “for eternity.” To further that end, the Israeli government has approved building plans in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in order to expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. However, such measures prejudge the outcome of permanent status negotiations on Jerusalem based on the principles set out in UN Security Council Resolution 242, which notes the impossibility of acquisition of territory by force.
