By Prensa Latina,
Tel Aviv : Israeli Knesset (unicameral Parliament) approved Wednesday by majority a bill defining the occupied territory of Jerusalem as “the capital of Israel and the Jewish people.”
The bill was approved by 58 votes in favor and 12 against, which means that it will follow legislative mechanisms to ammend the basic law describing it so far as “the capital of Israel,” according to media reports.
The bill was presented by deputy of the National Religious Party (Mafdal, in Hebrew), Zvulun Orlev, thus trying to reinforce the Jewish character of the city, the final status of which is one of the main issues in the Israel-Palestine peace talks.
Arab media put into question this action taken just as both parties resumed talks to achieve an alleged peace agreement in November 2007.
Jerusalem is among territories occupied by Tel Aviv during the Six Day War in 1967, and in 1981 the Knesset declared it “the eternal, indivisible” capital of Israel by a basic law, despite the UN Security Council declared this action illegal in its Resolution 478.
According to this resolution, the application by Israel of the basic law on Jerusalem is in violation of international law.
The UN resolution also decides not to recognize the Israeli claim or any other action in this regard, as they are aimed at altering the status of Jerusalem, and calls on member countries to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem.