"The text will be discussed on Monday and put to its second and third readings before the Knesset in order to be definitely adopted," parliamentary spokesman Giora Pordes told AFP. It passed its first reading on October 11.

If the legislation passes, any government signing a peace agreement ceding the annexed territories of east Jerusalem or the Golan, or any other sovereign territory within Israel itself, would be unable to implement the treaty without the approval of parliament and a national referendum.

It would not affect territorial concessions in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, which Israel has not annexed.

Speaking at the start of the televised debate, Haim Oron, head of the left-wing opposition Meretz party, described the initiative as a "trick" by the right to hobble any government peace attempt.

Other opposition members have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking the amendment, initiated by a member of his Likud party, to give him a way out if he finds himself pressured by world opinion into a peace treaty with the Palestinians or Syria with which he is uncomfortable.

Netanyahu defended the move, saying it would prevent any "irresponsible agreements."

"On the other hand it allows any agreement that answers the national interests of Israel with strong public backing," a statement from his office said.

Being put to the vote is an amendment to existing legislation passed in January 1999 in the final days of Netanyahu's previous government.

The legislation has the same basic premise but fails to spell out the mechanism for a referendum, which has never been held in Israel before.

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni, whose Kadima party commands 28 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, has ordered her MPs to vote against the amendment, news site Ynet reported.

"We have here a weak prime minister for whom it is convenient that he is hindered," it quoted her as saying. "We're not talking here about a desire to listen to the will of the people but about setting up a veto on decisions of the government."

Nevertheless, Israeli media expected the amendment to pass comfortably, although deliberations were likely to continue well into the evening.

East Jerusalem was annexed shortly after the 1967 Middle East war, while the Golan Heights plateau was formally annexed in 1981. Both were captured in the conflict.

Any pullout from mainly Arab east Jerusalem would only occur as part of a peace deal, but talks between Israel and the Palestinians are currently suspended over a dispute about Jewish settlement building.

Among possible solutions for an eventual agreement with the Palestinians could be an exchange of Israeli land for tracts of the West Bank populated by Jewish settlers.

Any withdrawal from the Golan would only be likely as part of a negotiated peace treaty with Syria, but both countries remain technically at war and no talks are under way.

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