The Israeli cabinet nixed a plan it approved nearly 18 months ago that would have allowed men and women to pray together at the Western Wall. The reversal appears to be a victory for the country's ultra-Orthodox sect.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Advertisement
The Israeli government has changed course on its pledge to open a mixed-gender prayer area Jerusalem's Western Wall - the holiest site where Jews can pray.
The move angered those who had spent years fighting for the creation of a third zone where men and women could pray together while still maintaining prayer areas separated by gender.
Anat Hoffman, the chairwoman of Women of the Wall, which has tried for years to change the arcane rules called it "a terrible day for women in Israel when the PM sacrifices their rights while kowtowing to a handful of religious extremists."
Jerusalem: Religious and liberal Jews clash at Western Wall
00:32
This browser does not support the video element.
The Israeli Cabinet approved the plan in January 2016 - voting 15-5 over the objections of the ultra-Orthodox members of the government. Sunday's decision appears to reinforce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strong ties with the ultra-Orthodox members of his governing coalition.
Ultra-Orthodox coalition members Shas and United Torah Judaism said the decision to freeze the plan "reflects the will of most of the nation that seeks to safeguard the Western Wall's sanctity and status."
The move is likely to further strain Netanyahu's relations with Conservative and Reform movements of Judaism, though how much he may regret that remains to be seen.
Cabinet votes to reverse itself
The cabinet voted to formally freeze the plan during its weekly meeting on Sunday, and Netanyahu called on a minister from his Likud Party to formulate a new proposal, although the parties admit that today's vote represents a "de-facto cancellation of the plan."
Yigal Palmor, a former spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and now the director of public affairs at the Jewish Agency for Israel, tweeted the disappointment of the agency's chairman Natan Sharansky.
The agency is a key outreach group to Jewish communities abroad. Sharansky slammed the government for backing out of the agreement.
Prayers removed from Israel's Western Wall
01:19
This browser does not support the video element.
"Today's decision signifies a retreat from that agreement and will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world together increasingly more difficult," he said.
The new vote was welcomed by Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau, which he described as a correction to the previously "mistaken" decision.
The mixed-gender section was to have been located at a separate expanse of the wall that, when seen from the plaza looking towards the wall, stands to the right of the current Orthodox-administered compound.
Currently, the wall is officially administered by an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, but the new section would have been managed by a Conservative or Reform rabbi.
bik/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP)
The works of Israeli photographer David Rubinger
His picture of Israeli soldiers gazing at the Western Wall became one of the most iconic images of the 1967 Six-Day War. Veteran Israeli photojournalist David Rubinger has died aged 92. Here are some of his photos.
Image: Getty Images/Newsmakers/GPO/David Rubinger
Gaza Strip in 1967
Born in Vienna in 1924, David Rubinger escaped the Nazis by fleeing to Palestine. His mother died in the Holocaust. Rubinger developed his passion for photography during his own military service in World War II and later became a photojournalist. This shot shows Israeli soldiers guarding captured Egyptians troops and Palestinians during the Six-Day War.
Image: Getty Images/GPO/David Rubinger
Paratroopers at the Western Wall
This is David Rubinger's most famous work. It portrays Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall, shortly after it was recaptured by Israeli forces during the Six-Day War in 1967. The government distributed this picture to everyone at a very low price, making it very famous. Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi called it "the most beloved Jewish photographic image of our time."
Image: Getty Images/Newsmakers/GPO/David Rubinger
Ariel Sharon ahead of the Six-Day War
This photo of former Israeli army general Ariel Sharon (center), accompanied by generals and aides, was taken in Israel's Negev Desert on June 1, 1967 - four days before the Six-Day War. Sharon was a decisive figure in the conflict. He later served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2001 to 2006, until he suffered a stroke that left him in a coma until his death in 2014.
Image: Getty Images/GPO/Newsmakers/David Rubinger
Documenting a history of conflicts
On this photo, Israeli troops were moving toward the northern frontier, while Syria was attacking the Golan Heights in October 1973. Rubinger covered 10 conflicts and was often in high-risk situations: "Frequently these days, when looking back over the years, I find myself asking how I could have been so lucky," he wrote in his 2007 book, "Israel Through My Lens: 60 Years as a Photojournalist."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/GPO/David Rubinger
Yom Kippur War in 1973
This picture shows Israeli tanks battling against the Syrian army on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Rudinger's photos included strong images from Israel's battlegrounds, as well as of Israeli settlers celebrating the foundation of one of the first post-1967 war settlements in the occupied West Bank and defiant Palestinians during an uprising in the 1980s.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/GPO/David Rubinger
The photographer of a nation in the making
David Rubinger was a photojournalist for "Time-Life" for over 50 years. Beyond conflict photography, he was also the only photographer allowed in the cafeteria of the Knesset, allowing him a privileged access to Israeli leaders such as Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. Israel's late president, Shimon Peres, called him "the photographer of
the nation in the making."
