Summary
Israel’s Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel, passed 30 July 1980, one of the Basic Laws: section 1 declares Jerusalem, complete and united, the capital of Israel; Amendment no. 1 (27 November 2000) added sections 5-7 fixing Jerusalem’s jurisdiction by the 28 June 1967 municipal expansion, barring transfer of stipulated authority to a foreign body, and entrenching sections 5 and 6 (Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel (1980), lines 175-264).
Details
- Section 1 (lines 186-188): Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel. Section 2 seats the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court in Jerusalem.
- Section 3 (lines 200-208): the Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate freedom of access of members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings towards those places.
- Section 4 (lines 210-224): the Government shall fund Jerusalem’s development and inhabitants’ well-being, including a special annual Capital City Grant approved by the Knesset Finance Committee, give Jerusalem special priority, and set up a special body or bodies to implement the section.
- Section 5, added by Amendment no. 1 (lines 226-236): Jerusalem’s jurisdiction includes, among others, all the area in the appendix of the proclamation expanding municipal Jerusalem’s borders beginning 20th Sivan 5727 (28 June 1967), given according to the Cities’ Ordinance.
- Section 6, added by Amendment no. 1 (lines 238-246): no authority stipulated in the law of the State of Israel or of the Jerusalem Municipality may be transferred, permanently or for an allotted period, to a foreign body, whether political, governmental or similar.
- Section 7, added by Amendment no. 1 (lines 248-251): sections 5 and 6 shall not be modified except by a Basic Law passed by a majority of the members of the Knesset. No other section is entrenched in the text.
- Passage (lines 253-264): signed by Menahem Begin, Prime Minister, and Yitzchak Navon, President of the State; passed 17th Av 5740 (30 July 1980), published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 980, p. 186. Amendment no. 1 passed 29th Heshvan 5761 (27 November 2000).
Where sources disagree
- Resolution 478 (1980) determines that this Basic Law and all Israeli measures purporting to alter Jerusalem’s character and status are null and void, must be rescinded, and are not to be recognized (PDF p.1). The Law itself presents Jerusalem, complete and united, as Israel’s capital and, after 2000, entrenches its 1967-expanded jurisdiction and the bar on transferring authority. Both accounts are kept.
Related pages
Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel (1980), Basic Laws, City of Jerusalem, UN Security Council Resolution 478, UN Security Council Resolution 476