Scrapping mixed-gender prayer area sparks rift

JERUSALEM • Two highprofile groups of Jewish leaders on Monday cancelled meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest his government’s decision to scrap plans for a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

The dramatic moves reflected the widening gulf that has opened between Israel and the Jewish diaspora over how Judaism can be practised in Israel. Most American Jews belong to the more liberal Reform and Conservative streams and feel alienated by Israel’s ultra-Orthodox authorities, which question their faith and practices.

The board of governors of The Jewish Agency, a nonprofit that works closely with the Israeli government to serve Jewish communities worldwide, said it was calling off its dinner with Netanyahu and altering the agenda of its annual meetings to address the crisis. A delegation of Reform leaders from Israel and North America announced that it too had cancelled a meeting with Netanyahu planned for Thursday.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism in North America and a member of the Jewish Agency’s board of governors, accused Netanyahu of “turning a cold shoulder” to the majority of world Jewry, as well as the Reform Movement in Israel. The Reform Movement is the largest stream of Judaism in North America, claiming over one million congregants.

“The decision cannot be seen as anything other than a betrayal, and I see no point to a meeting at this time,” Jacobs said.

Netanyahu’s office tried to deflect the criticism, noting that there are already arrangements for egalitarian prayer and saying that construction to expand that area would continue. The Western Wall, or Kotel, is the holiest site where Jews can pray.

“It is important to Prime Minister Netanyahu that every Jew is able to pray at the Western Wall,” said Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman. He also said that dialogue would continue to reach a solution.

Cabinet Minister Naftali Bennett, who established the current egalitarian prayer area four years ago, called the government decision unfortunate, but not a major disaster. He said the government this week allocated some $5 million to carry out the promised expansion of the prayer area in the coming months. It was only other aspects of the plan, including construction of a shared entrance to all prayer areas and joint management of the site, that were frozen.

“The main message for Jews around the world is ‘you are wanted,’” said Bennett. “The Kotel is open for all Jews of the world and will remain open for all Jews of the world.”

The government decision has set off a cascade of criticism both in Israel and abroad.

Jewish Agency chair Natan Sharansky, who masterminded the plan to expand and normalize the egalitarian area, called on the government to reverse course, saying the move undermines Jewish unity. “This gives a very strong message that you (the diaspora) are not important to us,” he told Israel’s Army Radio.

The dramatic about-face at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting followed the initial approval of the plan in January 2016.

The compromise was reached after three years of intense negotiations between liberal Israeli and American Jewish groups and the Israeli authorities, and was seen at the time as a significant breakthrough in promoting religious pluralism in Israel, where ultra-Orthodox authorities govern almost every facet of Jewish life.