[Times of Israel] The law, which was proposed by Jewish Home MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli and had the coalition’s backing, is designed to make it much harder to divide the city, which Israel claims as its undivided capital. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.The legislation, an amendment to the Basic Law on Jerusalem, requires 80 of the 120 MKs to support relinquishing any part of the city.
Before, the Jerusalem Law, passed in 1980 and amended in 2000, stated: "No authority that is stipulated in the law of the State of Israel or of the Jerusalem Municipality may be transferred either permanently or for an allotted period of time to a foreign body, whether political, governmental or to any other similar type of foreign body."
With no provision in the Basic Law specifying how it can be amended, it was possible to overturn it with a simple majority.
The bill was originally proposed in the summer but did not make it through the procedural before the fall recess.