Netanyahu under fire over controversial Western Wall decision

JERUSALEM: Two high-profile groups of Jewish leaders on Monday canceled 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 practiced 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 later announced that it too had canceled 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 1 million congregants.

“The prime minister made this decision without even a discussion with key leaders of the North American Jewish communities,” Jacobs said. “The decision cannot be seen as anything other than a betrayal, and I see no point to a meeting at this time.”

Netanyahu’s office tried to deflect the criticism on Monday, noting that there are already arrangements for egalitarian prayer and saying that construction to expand that area would continue.

“It is important to Prime Minister Netanyahu that every Jew is able to pray at the Western Wall,” said Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman. He said that he and Cabinet Minister Tzachi Hanegbi had been instructed to “continue dialogue” to reach a solution.

“I recommend that those trying to exploit this issue be precise with the facts,” Braverman said.

The government decision has set off a cascade of criticism both in Israel and abroad, where Jewish leaders warned that it could undermine their longstanding political, financial and emotional support for Israel.

Jewish Agency Chairman 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.

Dennis Ross, a former top US peace negotiator and currently chair of The Jewish People Policy Institute, said he was afraid that American Jews would no longer see Israel as a home.

“It is dangerous if there are steps taken here that would alienate the vast majority of American Jews,” he told the radio station.

The dramatic about-face at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting followed the initial approval of the plan in January 2016 to officially recognize the special mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall — the holiest site where Jews can pray.

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.

But the program was never implemented, as powerful ultra-Orthodox members of Netanyahu’s coalition government raised objections to the decision they had initially endorsed. Under ultra-Orthodox management, the wall is currently separated between men’s and women’s prayer sections and those attempting to hold egalitarian services in the area are often heckled and harassed.