Western Wall rabbi in eye of storm
Progressive Jews believe Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz is preventing them from obtaining an egalitarian prayer space, but for the ultra-Orthodox, Rabinowitz is too much of a compromiser.
The Western Wall compromise, designed to create an egalitarian prayer space, has been disputed in Israel for years, with the ultra-Orthodox parties rejecting the plan. The Bennett government has declared its intention to push the plan forward, but now it seems that even within the government, there are voices rising against it.
Minister for Religious Affairs Matan Kahana said last week, “I don’t think it’s right to give over control of parts of the Western Wall to streams that don’t represent the vast majority of Jews in Israel. I don’t necessarily support this framework. It must be studied, to see how we resolve the [religious] wars” surrounding the Western Wall.
Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli of the Israeli Labor presents things differently. “The Western wall compromise truly is a compromise, it’s not what I want to see completely, but it’s a compromise we must push forward. We are working on a resolution that we hope to pass in the government,” she said on Nov. 21.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai, who has been leading this agenda within the cabinet, said already last month that the government leadership, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other senior ministers, back the Western Wall plan. He also said the plan would be approved after the state budget was passed.
