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Israel's new law requiring that any withdrawal from East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights be approved either by two-thirds of the legislature or in a popular referendum has lengthened the odds against the country's conflicts being settled by negotiation. The 120-seat Knesset passed the law — initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party — late Monday, by a vote of 65-33, raising further obstacles to Washington's longstanding efforts to broker peace through territorial compromise.

East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were occupied by Israel in the war of 1967, and its annexation of those territories is not recognized by any country, including the United States. The U.N. deems Israeli settlement in both places as a violation of international law. Still, it's hard to imagine an Israeli electorate that has moved steadily to the right over the past two decades voting to approve withdrawal from the Golan Heights to make peace with Syria, or from East Jerusalem in order to complete a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

The Knesset vote was roundly condemned by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday and by the Syrian government, but its passage was also criticized by Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who said the law "won't do anybody any good." Opposition Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni said the move was a sign of weak leadership on the part of Netanyahu. Restoring Syrian sovereignty over the Golan has long been recognized as only basis for a peace agreement with Damascus, while the Palestinians and their Arab backers insist that any Palestinian state must have its capital in East Jerusalem.

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