The Labor Party caucus has voted to impose party discipline on its members in order to prevent the submission of a bill that would increase the Knesset majority needed to approve any territorial concessions on the Golan Heights as part of an Israeli peace deal with Syria.
The caucus vote of 28-5 on Tuesday day aimed specifically at a proposal supported by Labor Knesset member Avigdor Kahalani that would require a majority of 70 knesset members — or a 65 percent majority in a national referendum — to approve an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said that kahalani’s proposal would make it impossible to get backing for a land-for-peace deal with Syria unless support came from members of the opposition.
Kahalani denied speculation that he plans to leave the party in order to put forward his proposed law.
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