A joint panel of the Israeli Knesset House and Law Committees approved a proposal that a national referendum must be held before concessions on any territory under Israeli legal jurisdiction, including Jerusalem, a report said yesterday.

The Israeli daily Jerusalem Post said that the proposal, aimed to amend the national referendum bill, had originally called for a referendum only on concessions on the occupied Golan Heights.

The bill will now be distributed to all Knesset members for evaluation, following which it will be voted on by the joint committee again for second and third readings. It will then be brought to the Knesset plenum for a final vote.

House Committee Chairman David Tal said: ?We have decided that all territory under Israel?s jurisdiction will be added to the referendum bill, because we believe that the current political situation has changed and it will receive the Knesset plenum?s support.?

Tal has vigorously championed the referendum bill since its initiation. Under the bill, concessions in West Bank would not require a referendum because these regions are not under Israeli legal jurisdiction.

It also agreed that there was a need to remove the legal restrictions aimed at regulating pre-referendum propaganda due to the difficulty of enforcing them in the age of electronic media. The media campaign will begin 21 days prior to a referendum and end 24 hours before the referendum takes place. A set tariff for TV and radio advertisements will be published in advance by the concessionaires.

The committee also rejected Central Elections Committee?s proposal that a public holiday be declared for such a referendum, citing the 1.3 billion Israeli shekel ($ 361 million) cost.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews

Meanwhile, a study by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS) said that Jerusalem is turning ultra-Orthodox. The study said that many Jerusalem neighborhoods are indeed increasingly characterized by an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle. The study added that the demographic changes in the city shows that, in relation to Jerusalem?s entire Jewish population, the proportion of ultra-Orthodox has increased quite modestly in recent years. Maya Choshen of JIIS said that Jerusalem today has 740,000 residents, 480,000 of whom are Jewish. According to JIIS estimates, in 1995 the ultra-Orthodox constituted 29 percent of the city?s Jewish population while in 2000, the figure was 30 percent. Today it is 32 percent, or some 196,000 people.

These figures illustrate that the increase of Jerusalem?s ultra-Orthodox population over the last 13 years was modest. By 2020, the proportion of ultra-Orthodox out of the city?s total Jewish population is not likely to exceed 35 percent. Control over Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the June 1967 War, has been seen as the most sensitive and thorniest issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians are seeking to set up a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. But the Jewish state says the city is its eternal capital.

Abbas-Bush meeting

A Palestinian official said yesterday President Mahmoud Abbas would hold talks with US President George W. Bush on Sept. 26 at the White House.

Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rudainah said the two leaders would discuss the fate of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The negotiations began several months ago.

Although negotiators say they are discussing all key issues, no visible progress has been made. It is not clear whether talks will continue beyond the end of the year.

Bush only has four months left in office, and Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will step down to fight corruption allegations after his party chooses a successor later this month.