Jordan condemned the Israeli Knesset passage of the ‘Unified Jerusalem‘ bill, which is a measure that requires a two-thirds majority of 80 lawmakers before the government will be able to give up any part of Jerusalem in a peace deal.
The bill passed with a vote of 64 to 52.
Jordanian State Minister for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani told reporters at a briefing Tuesday after the vote that ‘East Jerusalem’ is part of the territories ‘occupied’ in 1967, according to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
He insisted the city of Jerusalem is a “final status issue whose fate should be determined through negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis according to relevant international laws.”
Momani said all unilateral moves to impose new realities on the ground or alter the status of Jerusalem are “null and void under the international law, including the bill.”
He warned against the “gravity” of steps taken recently by Israel, including the Unified Jerusalem bill as well as a unanimous vote earlier in the week by the Likud Central Committee, supporting the extension of Israeli sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
He said that move would “undermine the two-state solution that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.” Momani underscored the Jordanian and Palestinian Authority position that there is no alternative to that “solution to solve the conflict and achieve security and stability in the region.”
The explanatory notes accompanying the bill read: “When there are signs that [some] seek to undermine the basic conventions [regarding Jewish Jerusalem] that are at the foundation of our national existence, the Knesset must act to prevent any harm to the capital of Israel.”
“The amendment of this law also has a security purpose,” the notes stressed: “Since the IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon and the disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip have proven that terrorist elements […] enter the areas from which Israel withdraws, such a possibility must be avoided in the united city. The purpose of this amendment to the law is to strengthen the unity of Jerusalem, to ensure its future, and to safeguard its residents.”
The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of “declaring war” on its population with the passage of the new law.