Jerusalem Law

The Jerusalem Law (Hebrew: חוק יסוד: ירושלים בירת ישראל‎‎, Arabic: قانون القدس‎‎) is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on July 30, 1980 (17th Av, 5740).

It began as a private member's bill proposed by Geulah Cohen, whose original text stated that "the integrity and unity of greater Jerusalem (Yerushalayim rabati) in its boundaries after the Six-Day War shall not be violated." However, this clause was dropped after the first reading in the Knesset. As the Knesset thus declined to specify boundaries and did not use the words "annexation" or "sovereignty", Ian Lustick writes that "The consensus of legal scholars is that this action added nothing to the legal or administrative circumstance of the city, although, especially at the time, its passage was considered to have political importance and sparked a vigorous protest reaction from the world community." For example, United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, adopted by 14 votes to none, with 1 abstention (United States), declared soon after that the law was "null and void" and "must be rescinded". This resolution called upon member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city.

Although the law was not proposed by the governing coalition or Prime Minister Menachem Begin, rather, it was proposed by lawmakers concerned that peace negotiators were demanding that Arab residents of East Jerusalem be given votes in Palestinian Authority elections. As legislation, the Act is regarded as largely symbolic.

An amendment in 2000 further specified the jurisdiction of the law, that included East Jerusalem. It actually did not change its range. The amendment also prohibited transfer of authority to a foreign body, for example an international regime.

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