An Israeli Cabinet minister says she is stepping down as head of a committee responsible for expanding a mixed-gender prayer area next to Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
Culture Minister Miri Regev said on Thursday her conscience won’t allow her to approve such a plan, hotly contested by hard-line Israeli Jews who are her key constituents. The resignation could delay implementation, which would outrage the more liberal American Jewish Diaspora and potentially spark a court ruling that could cause a government crisis.
The Israeli government has previously frozen plans for an expanded egalitarian prayer section because of ultra-Orthodox Jewish pressure.
(AP)
4 Responses
Do readers consider the term “ultra orthodox” to be disparaging ?
Why is there a “committee responsible for expanding a mixed-gender prayer area”? Who approved this? And even if the majority does approve, does that make it right to trample on Jewish law and tradition, especially at one of Judaism’s holiest sites?
The Bayit Yehudi & the Charadim must not agree to anything that will lead to an official or even a semi-official recognition with other streams of Judaism.
The only way that outraging Reform Hellenists could cause a coalition crisis in Israel is by the politicians who have been “bought” by the Hellenists with their largesse.
it’s ironic that Jews, who only gained full access to, and control of, the Kotel because of a government and ideology that they refute and deny, want that government to enforce their stance re the Kotel