The government will vote on a basic law requiring a referendum on peace treaties on Sunday, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office distributed a copy of the legislation to ministers for review Thursday.
Basic Law: Referendum is expected to be approved in a ministerial vote and brought to the Knesset for a first reading Wednesday.
The PMO is looking into the possibility of bringing it back for second and third (final) readings on the same day, so it would become law next week, a senior government source said.
The speedy legislative process is explained in the PMO's introduction to the bill, which reads: "In light of significant diplomatic developments leading to the opening of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, the government sees an importance and urgency, together with talks, to pass a Basic Law requiring a referendum in the case of an agreement or government decision requiring the concession of law, judiciary and management of territory in the State of Israel."
The prime minister's quick movement on the bill comes three days after Economy Minister Naftali Bennett threatened that the Bayit Yehudi would not support the government's budget, which will be brought to a vote Monday, if no progress is made on the referendum bill.
Soon after, Netanyahu pointed out that he already supports the idea of a referendum, because peace treaties "determine destinies" and citizens ought to have a say in the matter.
“Peace with our neighbors requires peace among ourselves, and the way to ensure this is through a referendum,” he stated.
The government bill calls for a law passed in 2010 requiring a referendum after the government signs any treaty giving away sovereign Israeli land to be turned into a Basic Law, and is almost identical to a bill submitted by coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu) and Bayit Yehudi MKs Ayelet Shaked and Orit Struck earlier this week.
Basic Laws are considered by the Supreme Court to have ascendant, constitutional status. The government bill also includes a clause requiring a majority of 61 MKs in order to cancel or change the law, and that the law cannot be ignored because of emergency ordinances.
Because the legislation only deals with sovereign land, the government will not have to hold a referendum to sign a treaty giving parts of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians. However, if a peace agreement includes parts of Jerusalem or land swaps, it would require a vote.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) decided his party will support the referendum bill.
However, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, chairwoman of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, repeated her commitment to vote against the referendum at every opportunity, with the agreement of most of her party.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman opposes a referendum, but has said that he will support it if it becomes government policy. He gave his ministers permission to vote as they see fit.