Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly told journalists from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox sector on Tuesday that they would have to compromise on many social issues, such as the status of non-Orthodox Jewish streams in Israel and prayer rights at the Western Wall.
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Netanyahu has been conducting personal off-the-record briefings with representatives of Israel’s major news outlets at his office over the past week. Several ultra-Orthodox-affiliated publications, such as Kikar Hashabbat, met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening. The meeting lasted over four hours, two hours longer than Netanyahu’s meeting with representatives of Channel Two News.
Netanyahu discussed his policy off-the-record with the journalists and according to reports this morning by several ultra-Orthodox journalists, he warned that unless their sector’s political parties in the Knesset manage to accept compromises on religious observance in the public sphere, the Israeli High Court of Justice is likely to impose rulings that would be even less desirable to the ultra-Orthodox politicians.
The main issue was reportedly the question of prayer rights at the Western Wall for progressive Jewish streams.
The Western Wall compound is currently under the full jurisdiction of the Israeli chief rabbinate, which is an exclusively Orthodox state institution run by individuals associated with the ultra-Orthodox sector. The rabbinate has consistently denied freedom of worship at the Western Wall to non-Orthodox religious streams, such as the Reform and Conservative Movements, and it has prevented women from having equal prayer rights, such as reading the Torah and wearing Jewish prayer shawls at the Western Wall plaza.
Following negotiations between government representatives and those of the Jewish non-Orthodox community that went on for three months, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced in February that an agreement had been reached to expand the Western Wall plaza and to establish an egalitarian section open to all streams and denominations of Judaism.
However, the agreement has yet to be put in motion, mainly due to pressure by all three religious parties in Knesset—Shas, United Torah Judaism, and the Jewish Home. The delay so far has also incurred several petitions to the High Court of Justice and appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court.
Netanyahu reportedly warned the journalists that they would do better to accept the compromises agreed upon and to compromise further on religious legislation regarding observance of the Sabbath in the public sphere rather than face judicial intervention by the High Court of Justice.
In the “so called” Jewish state, the jewish leader will decide just about how much jewish a jew may b. Listen Bibi, ur neshama was at Har Sinai cuz u were born to a jewish mother but u would gladly strip urself of this holy heritage but pls stay in your own anti religious world and dont decide our fate and hey, u never will. We are yidden that wont compromise an iota of our holy yidishkeit. You and ur miserable scumbags stay as far as u can from our torah and mitzvags u so openly despise and continue ur political life which unfortunately is justasmuch against our holy Torah. We shall stay staunch jews in the land of jews even persecuted by the jews b
Women do have equal prayer rights. Who says women can’t pray? But they should pray as Jewish women have done for thousands of years. Judaism does not have different denominations.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME AT THE KOTEL, EVEN NON-JEWS AND MANY COME TO ISRAEL WITH THE HOPE OF PRAYING AT THE “holy wall”-but not want to destroy status quo. pray all day long -no one will stop them or anyone, but respect the status quo. it’s an act of destruction of Judaism to force others to accept wierd deviations at the kotel. today it’s ladies in tefillin and talesim – singing and so forth, who knows what tomorrow will bring-cults and so forth. there’s no end.
even when the granddaughters of Rashi reputedly put on tefilin, it was done very few and extremely privately-and not as an open war on Judaism or changing status quo or demanding democratic rights as in politics.
I remember rav shach zt’l warning (nov.1990) about shmiras shabbos before the first gulf war. This was when there were demonstrations for restaurants to be open on shabbos and buses to run on shabbos. I recall 39 scuds hitting israel primarily in the tel aviv area and that one of the demonstration leaders was killed. Netanyahu and the leftist amaleki judges should be reminded of this.
The problem begins right at the start of the Israeli public school system. Students are taught religion The religion of secularism with all its dogmas and believes which paves the way for the Prime Minister to recognize the Reform and Conservative religions as being entitled to equal rights at Jewish holy places. He does not know anything else. That is why Jewish holy places like Joseph’s tomb were given away for nothing because its just a piece of real-estate to them.