Israeli PM pushing for liberal Jewish prayer at holy site

The new area, which will enable men and women to pray side by side, is to be adjacent to the existing plaza run by ultra-Orthodox rabbis. The gatherings frequently ended in physical tussles and arrests.

The new plan was opposed by ultra-Orthodox authorities currently administering the site now and by religious nationalist lawmakers.

But Deri insisted the government was forced into doing the bad deal because of the High Court of Justice, which was expected to rule in two weeks that the government had to create an area at the Kotel proper for women to hold women-only prayer services that include public Torah readings and use of tallits and teffilin. The ultra-Orthodox establishment has significant political power and maintains a monopoly over daily Jewish life.

Nor does it say exactly when Women of the Wall, an embattled women’s prayer group, will move its monthly services from the Orthodox Jewish main prayer section to the non-Orthodox one.

North American Jewish leaders are praising the vote to create the new arena.

Over the weekend in Israel, officials led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voted to allow men and women to pray-together-at the Western Wall.

The Israeli cabinet approved the plan with a 15 to five vote. This has included separate prayer areas for men and women.

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the U.S.-based executive vice president of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, called the decision “a very important step”, especially because “there has been no previous acknowledgment of egalitarian Judaism by the Israeli government”. Violent incidents had even broken out in the past between ultra-Orthodox Jews and “Women of the Wall”. “May this also bring peace among us”. After the Six Day War, the approaches to this traditional area were cleared, and a large plaza built, capable of holding as many as 100,000 people.

Women of the Wall spokeswoman Shira Pruce said the decision was a “revolution for women and Jewish pluralism in Israel”. “It will be tolerant and equal and friendly”, she said.

Sharansky said the Wall controversy has underscored one of the biggest “internal” problems facing Israel today – the tension between Israel’s and the Diaspora’s definition of who is a Jew, with the fight over the wall serving as “the most visual example of” this. It recognises that Judaism is an inclusive religion with a variety of different but valid expressions.

The place where a plaza for mixed-gender prayer will be placed at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem’s Old City, Monday, Feb. 1, 2016.

“The vision of the new section of the Kotel is a physical and conceptual space open to all forms of Jewish prayer”, a statement from Women of the Wall read. It is the third holiest place in Islam after Mecca and Medina, and the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque. It is regularly challenged by activist group, Women of the Wall, and sometimes sparks scuffles between rival factions. “Ur the tits #womenofthewall”.