JERUSALEM: Israel’s prime minister said yesterday that any peace deal reached with the Palestinians on his watch would be subject to a national referendum, backing a contentious step that could hinder peace efforts.
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen for more than four years, but the referendum issue re-emerged this week when two of Netanyahu’s main coalition partners reportedly signaled support for the proposal.
The discussion comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry attempts to re-energize peace talks. This week, after some prodding by Kerry, Arab leaders sweetened a decade-old comprehensive peace plan in a gesture aimed at helping restart talks.
“If we get to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, I’d like to bring it to a referendum,” Netanyahu said at the start of a meeting with the visiting Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter.
Israeli politicians have in recent days debated the contentious issue, following a media report that said Netanyahu’s main coalition partners, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, are seeking a referendum on an agreement with the Palestinians and would raise the issue again in Parliament.
A spokeswoman for Bennett could not immediately be reached and Lapid’s party said it was studying the issue and did not yet have a position.
Israel passed a bill in 2010 governing peace negotiations that would require approval by two-thirds of Parliament or, failing that, a majority of voters in a referendum if the Golan Heights or east Jerusalem are to be ceded in any deal.
The law was seen as an attempt by hard-liners to add an additional obstacle to any efforts to cede the annexed areas as part of any future peace agreement.
Israel: Any peace deal to be subject to referendum
