Netanyahu Planning Referendum Law For Any Peace Deal With Palestinians

Under pressure from right-wing members of his government, Netanyahu plans to introduce a law which will make ratification of any agreement dependent on a public referendum.

By Barak Ravid and Jack Khoury | Jul. 22, 2013 | 1:10 AM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to expedite legislation in the coming days of a public referendum bill, a senior official in Jerusalem said. The move comes in response to pressure from the right over renewed negotiations with the Palestinians.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett conveyed a message Sunday to Netanyahu through coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin, in which he stated that Habayit Hayehudi, of which Bennett is chairman, demands immediate implementation of the coalition agreement in regard to the referendum bill, which meant passing it within 90 days.

Bennett told Levin that he wanted the preliminary reading of the bill to take place immediately, among other reasons because of the renewal of talks with the Palestinians. “If it was urgent to vote on the universal draft bill or the governance bill, the referendum bill can also be moved ahead quickly,” Bennett told Levin.

Levin gave Netanyahu the message and the prime minister, who wanted to move the bill ahead in any case, told Levin that he would see whether the bill could be expedited. Netanyahu also looked into the possibility of moving legislation ahead this week, but found out that it had still not been properly presented to the Knesset and a number of technical steps still had to take place.

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