The Israeli Cabinet made a historic decision Jan. 31 to designate a prayer section at the Western Wall for the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism — that is, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism and Women of the Wall. It is intended to serve as a pluralistic service area, free of gender segregation, allowing men and women to pray together without a separating partition. This is a great achievement for the non-Orthodox movements.

Although ultra-Orthodox representatives in the government opposed the plan, they have refrained from sparking a coalition crisis over it. A senior ultra-Orthodox figure speaking on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor, “This is a painful compromise for us, but it's the lesser evil. Above all, we were concerned that the Supreme Court would rule on the petition filed by Women of the Wall and allow them to pray in the central service section, contrary to tradition.”

Not all the affected parties, however, have been willing to accept the compromise, including a splinter Women of the Wall group. Founded in 1988, Women of the Wall has been fighting for 27 years for the right to pray and read the Torah at the Western Wall. The group split into two factions, and one of them — called the Original Women of the Wall — is the group that petitioned the Supreme Court in January 2013, seeking religious equality and the dissolution of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which oversees administration of the wall. The court's ruling on the petition is expected shortly.

“We believe that the plan is a shameful capitulation,” Cheryl Birkner Mack, a member of the splinter group, told Al-Monitor. “We are not interested in compromise. We seek equality. The same way every man can read the Torah and put on tefillin at the Western Wall, we, too, want to be able to do so. We want equal treatment.”