The Israeli Parliament known as Knesset, has passed a legislation requiring a national referendum on any peace agreement that calls for withdrawal from the Golan Heights or east Jerusalem and doesn’t win a two-thirds majority in parliament. The legislation was passed by a 65-to-33 vote after seven hours of debate at the Knesset in Jerusalem. The law was approved as the U.S. is pressing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume direct peace talks. It was sponsored by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. The bill sets downs the rules for such a referendum, which would be required in the case of an Israeli pullback from the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem, though not in the West Bank. The law has been approved by Israeli Parliament at the time when U.S. is pressing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume direct peace talks. The measure applies to the Golan Heights and east Jerusalem, but not to the West Bank. Palestinians are demanding a construction freeze in the West Bank before stalled negotiations can be renewed, saying the 10-month moratorium that expired in September was insufficient. While U.S. State Department spokesman described it as ‘an internal Israeli issue, the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that with the passage of this bill, the Israeli leadership, yet again, is making a mockery of international law, which is not subject to the whims of Israeli public opinion.Analysts point out that the provision approved by parliament can make a deal difficult by hardliners in future. The Palestinian Authority seeks to establish an independent state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Syria also wants to reincorporate the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, into its territory.