After Intense Chareidi Pressure, Bennett And Kahane Freeze Western Wall Compromise

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana have decided to freeze plans to implement the 2016 Western Wall compromise deal which would enable mixed-gender prayer at the pavilion erected south of the current section of the wall open to the public.

The compromise was initially approved by the Netanyahu-led government but after intense chareidi pressure the matter was suspended in 2017. Kahane had considered restoring the compromise but now favors freezing and possibly even shelving the plan altogether.

Bennett and Kahane are apparently concerned that the political implication of supporting the compromise would be an alignment with the Reform movement which they do not identify with.

Recently there have been violent confrontations between chareidi and reform elements at the Western Wall and the government is concerned that opposition leaders will use the issue to incite against the government.

“We have decided to not deal with this now, period,” Kahana told aides over the weekend.

“The Western Wall compromise has become a focus for incitement and hatred, especially by people from Likud, who are latching onto it. We cannot play into their hands. We’re freezing everything at the moment. We’re not touching it,” Kahana said.

The current move could spark unrest in the coalition since it goes against coalition commitments towards other elements including Reform MK Gilad Kariv, Transport Minister Merav Michaeli, Finance Minister Liberman and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid who all support the compromise.

In the coalition agreement that was signed in June, the parties wrote that they were committed to advancing the compromise “that was canceled by the Netanyahu government.” Kariv, a reform rabbi, was given the task of implementing the compromise but has so far succeeded in sparking fury and opposition after deliberately taking a Sefer Torah in the women’s section and reading from it.

Last month, President Isaac Herzog asked Kariv to not attend Rosh Hodesh prayers at the Western Wall in order to prevent further altercations there. Kariv agreed to forgo the ceremony.

Kahane, himself an orthodox Jew, is already under fire for the reforms he is trying to implement in the kashrus system and in the conversion process in Israel. He has even recently been assigned a security detail after receiving death threats from chareidi elements.

Netanyahu’s Likud party claims that a well-run campaign focused on the Western Wall compromise could get hundreds of thousands to take to the streets and join giant protests already planned by the charedim.

Last month, Likud MK Miri Regev delivered a fiery speech in the Knesset against the compromise, even though she had supported it in 2016.

“If we don’t take to the streets over the cost of living, over their lies, over their tricks, we’ll take to the streets — and I’ll lead — to protect our Western Wall, for what protected the Jewish people, for our soul,” Regev said.