On Wednesday, the Israeli Knesset approved, in preliminary reading, a draft law prohibiting the opening of diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to provide services to non-residents of Israel (Palestinians). To avoid "the possibility of the emergence of a de facto status for Jerusalem as a shared city."

This project was submitted by Zeev Elkin, a member of the Knesset from the Likud Party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it still must be voted on with three additional readings to become an effective law.

The Knesset said, in a statement: “18 members supported the draft law and 7 opposed it, and it will be submitted to the Constitution Committee for discussion, in preparation for submitting it for a vote.”

The draft stipulates that “Israel will not allow a foreign political entity to open or operate a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem to serve non-residents of Israel,” according to the statement.

It added, "In Israel, no government has allowed the opening of any representation of a foreign entity that was not intended to serve its population, and the reason for not granting this permission is the possibility of the emergence of a de facto status for Jerusalem as a shared city."

The Palestinians adhere to East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state, based on international legitimacy resolutions, which do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 nor its annexation in 1981.

The Knesset pointed out that “today there are 8 representations (consulates) in Israel that provide services to Israelis and Palestinians, but these representations were open before the establishment of the state (1948),” referring to the general consulates in East Jerusalem.

These consulates are: Turkish, British, French, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, Belgian and Greek, according to Anadolu’s correspondent.

The Knesset added, "Since the establishment of the state, no foreign representation of this kind has been established in Jerusalem, and countries that wanted to provide service to the Palestinians have established diplomatic missions in the city of Ramallah (in the West Bank) or Arab countries, including Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, and Jordan."

The Knesset's initial approval of the draft law coincides with Israel's commemoration of the 57th anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem.

A few days ago, Slovenia, Spain, Ireland, and Norway officially recognized the State of Palestine, raising the number of countries recognizing it to 148 out of 193 member states of the United Nations General Assembly.

In a punitive response, Israel decided on May 27 to prevent the Spanish consulate in East Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.