Israel Suspends Plan for Egalitarian Prayer Area at Western Wall
By ISABEL KERSHNERJUNE 25, 2017
JERUSALEM — Yielding to pressure from his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday backtracked on a decision to create a space at the Western Wall in Jerusalem where men
and women can pray together and non-Orthodox rituals can be practiced.
The iconic wall in Jerusalem’s contested Old City, a potent symbol for Jews around the world
and a place for quiet reflection, has become the focal point in recent years of a battle over rituals between the strictly Orthodox authorities who control most religious life in Israel and the more diverse and liberal communities here and abroad.
Avigdor Lieberman said that Today’s cancellation of the decision is a severe blow to the unity of the Jewish people, the Jewish communities
and the fabric of the relationship between the state of Israel and the Jews in the Diaspora,
The agreement for the new egalitarian prayer space, adopted 17 months ago by the government after years of negotiations
with Jewish leaders, was supposed to restore harmony at the ancient site, the holiest place where Jews can pray.
Uri Ariel, the agriculture minister from the Jewish Home Party who supported canceling the 2016 decision, said, "It took time,
but we have succeeded in persuading the government to cancel the deal, which damaged the Kotel and the Jewish status quo."
