(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset passed the first reading of a bill initiated by Likud Knesset Member Gideon Sa'ar, which requires a two-thirds majority of Knesset Members (MKs) to change the status of Jerusalem.

Currently, it would take 61 of the 120 MKs to change the Basic Law: Jerusalem, which annexed Jerusalem's eastern neighborhoods and the Old City to the capital.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has floated the idea of surrendering parts of the capital to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which demands the entire area of Jerusalem liberated in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The vote in favor of the bill was 54-24, but it must be approved by a committee and pass two more Knesset votes before becoming law. A growing number of Knesset members in Prime Minister Olmert's own Kadima party are against his plan to split Jerusalem. Olmert's close confidant and aide Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon has openly promoted handing over parts of the capital to the PA.

Shas Fires Back at Netanyahu
MK Yitzchak Cohen (Shas) said Tuesday that Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu should not preach nationalist ideology to Shas, as Netanyahu voted for the Disengagement from Gaza. “The Disengagement would have been prevented if Netanyahu, [Likud MK Limor] Livnat, and [Likud MK] Katz had voted against it,” Cohen said. 

Shas has clear “red lines,” Cohen said, and has made it clear to the government and to United States Secretary of State that the party will not support dividing Jerusalem.  Shas wants peace, he said, but “we won’t march on a bridge of paper.  We want to see solid ground beneath our feet.”

Netanyahu has accused Shas of propping up Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government as Olmert plans to make dangerous concessions to the Palestinian Authority.

“Coalition For Jerusalem” Launched
Netanyahu and other politicians are planning to launch a group called Coalition for Jerusalem that will fight any plans to divide control of Jerusalem.  Likud supporters are planning a rally to take place at 3 PM Wednesday in Jerusalem’s City of David.

Representatives from at least eight parties will attend the rally. Representatives from Likud, Shas, Yisrael Beiteinu, Kadima, NU/NRP, Labor, the Pensioners Party, and UTJ plan to attend the event.