Because many Israelis oppose a retreat from the Golan Heights, several Knesset members wanted to ensure that any proposal to withdraw from the area would be "approved by the people, without outside considerations, tricks or political bribes" and so they adopted the referendum law.
David Ben-Gurion proposed a referendum on the introduction of a majoritarian electoral system in 1958 to reduce the influence of the National Religious Party.
Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip who were opposed to the abandonment of their settlements had asked for a national referendum to be held on the plan.
Israel's withdrawal from its Sinai settlements in the 1980s (part of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty) was also not put to a referendum.
Also, 13 out of 22 members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved a bill on 28 July 2013 that any peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority that includes withdrawals from territory will be put before an Israeli referendum before enactment.