A high-profile group of Jewish leaders cancelled a gala event with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to protest his government's decision to scrap plans for a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

The stunning move reflects an unprecedented gulf that has erupted between Israel and the Jewish diaspora over how Judaism can be practiced in Israel. Most American Jews belong to its more liberal Reform and Conservative streams and feel alienated by Israel's ultra-Orthodox authorities that 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.

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 was just one of the senior officials to condemn the move for unminding Jewish unity.

Dennis Ross, a former top U.S. 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.

"We're a small people. We are, in a sense, in one house and there shouldn't be any exclusion and there shouldn't be those who define for others whether or not they're Jewish," Ross told Israel's Army Radio. "It is dangerous if there are steps taken here that would alienate the vast majority of American Jews."

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.

Sunday's nixing of the planned $9 million plaza, coupled with another government decision to promote a bill that would enshrine the ultra-Orthodox monopoly over conversions, sparked immediate anger among liberal Jews in Israel and abroad.

Highlighting its sensitivity, the issue was not listed on the Cabinet's agenda and no official statement on the decision was made. Netanyahu himself notably refrained from addressing it in a speech to young diaspora Jews on a Birthright trip to Israel.

Elazar Stern, a modern Orthodox lawmaker from the centrist Yesh Atid party, asked the attorney general on Monday to review what he called a murky decision-making process.

"Cancelling the Western Wall agreement causes a severe crisis between Israel and the Jewish diaspora and when such a decision is taken secretly, away from the eyes of the public and without ministers having a chance to prepare for it adequately, a large shadow is cast upon it," he wrote.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis strictly govern Jewish practices in Israel such as weddings, divorces and burials. The ultra-Orthodox religious establishment sees itself as responsible for maintaining traditions through centuries of persecution and assimilation, and it resists any inroads from liberals it often considers to be second-class Jews who ordain women and gays and are overly inclusive toward converts and interfaith marriages.

The liberal streams have made some inroads in recent years, but have encountered a wall of ultra-Orthodox resistance when it comes to breaking their monopoly on religious practices.

"We made a mistake. We believed the government, we believed the prime minister, we believed that we needed at last to end this squabbling among ourselves over the Western Wall, and we agreed to a compromise arrangement," Yizhar Hess, head of the Conservative movement in Israel wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily.

"But the Cabinet's decision last night — a cynical, even wicked decision — took this historic agreement and threw it in the faces of millions of Jews around the world," Hess added.</s>Liberal Jews have slammed the Israeli government for freezing a plan to establish a mixed-gender prayer space at the Western Wall, with one group canceling a planned gala event with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Jewish Agency for Israel, a non-profit group that works with the Israeli government to serve Jewish communities across the globe, announced its cancelation of the planned dinner event earlier on Monday.

“In light of yesterday’s decisions by the Government of Israel, the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency will be changing its entire agenda for the remaining two days of its meetings in Jerusalem, in order to address the ramifications of these decisions. The scheduled dinner with the participation of the Prime Minister has been cancelled,” it said in a statement, as quoted by The Jerusalem Post.

The freezing of the plan represents a U-turn for the government, which approved a blueprint for a US$9 million project to establish a mixed-gender prayer space in January 2016.

The Western Wall (also called the Wailing Wall), the holiest site where Jews can pray, is currently divided into men’s and women’s prayer spaces.

Approval of the plan was reached following years of negotiations between the Israeli government and liberal Israeli and American Jews. It was seen as a major step towards promoting religious pluralism in Israel.

However, the move was quickly criticized by ultra-Orthodox citizens and government leaders, and no progress was made towards establishing the mixed-gender prayer space.

Realizing the plan was being stalled by the government, the Reform and Conservative movements, along with the Jewish feminist group Women of the Wall, petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to act.

READ MORE: Asking women to swap seats for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men ruled illegal for Israeli airline

Sunday was the deadline for the government to officially respond to the petition. The government instead decided to indefinitely freeze the plan.

The action has been met with anger and disappointment by liberal Jews.

“Five years ago, the prime minister asked me to lead a joint effort to bring about a workable formula that would transform the Western Wall into – in his own words – ‘one wall for one people,’” the Jewish Agency’s Natan Sharansky said, adding that an agreement was reached after four years of “intensive negotiations.”

“Today’s decision signifies a retreat from that agreement and will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world closer together increasingly more difficult...” he added, as quoted by The Jerusalem Post.

Those words were echoed by the chair of the Women of the Wall group, which was partly behind the government petition.

“I’m outraged by this government decision. I think it shows cowardice. For two years we negotiated in good faith with the government,” said Anat Hoffman, as quoted by AP. “And then today they decide that it is null and void, that they're not going to implement it, that equality is out the window.”

The head of the Conservative movement in Israel, Yizhar Hess, wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily that trusting the government was a “mistake.”

“We made a mistake. We believed the government, we believed the prime minister, we believed that we needed at last to end this squabbling among ourselves over the Western Wall, and we agreed to a compromise arrangement,” he wrote.

“But the Cabinet’s decision last night — a cynical, even wicked decision — took this historic agreement and threw it in the faces of millions of Jews around the world.”

READ MORE: Former Hasidic Jew speaks out over custody battle with ultra-Orthodox community (VIDEO)

Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox community has praised the decision.

Arieh Deri, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said he was pleased the government froze the plan which would have harmed the “sanctity of the site.”

“Preserving the status quo of the Western Wall reflects the will of most of the people,” he said. “There is no room there for destructive factions whose only purpose is to desecrate the site.”

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox establishment sees itself as responsible for maintaining Jewish traditions, and strictly govern Jewish practices in Israel including weddings, divorces, and burials. It serves as a frequent roadblock to the agenda of more liberal Jews trying to modernize certain practices.</s>The Israeli government’s decision on Sunday to formally suspend plans for a mixed-gender prayer space at Jerusalem’s Western Wall has sparked backlash from activists and Jewish leaders.

During a weekly meeting on Sunday, the cabinet voted to freeze implementation of a mixed-gender prayer space, which was initially voted on in 2016. Many saw the move as a result of pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received from ultra-Orthodox members of the government. Netanyahu asked a minister from his Likud party on Sunday to formulate a new plan for the proposed space.

The news drew fierce criticism from the activists of Women of the Wall, a Jerusalem-based organization that has fought for women’s equal access to the sacred site for nearly three decades.

“This is a move against women,” said Women of the Wall executive director Lesley Sachs in a video produced by Haaretz. “This is a move against progress.”

Anat Hoffman, chairperson of Women of the Wall, said in a statement: “The fact that the Prime Minister, who himself initiated and led the agreement is bending and retreating from that historic decision is shameful.”

“It’s a terrible day for women in Israel when the PM sacrifices their rights while kowtowing to a handful of religious extremists, who want to enforce their religious customs while intentionally violating the rights of the majority of the Jewish world, 51 percent being women,” she added.

Men and women have worshipped in separate sections at the Western Wall since the 1960s when administration of the site was granted to ultra-Orthodox leaders, according to the Women of the Wall’s website. Since then, women have not been allowed use a Torah scroll or wrap themselves in prayer shawls as men can while praying. They are also required to remain silent.

The Women of the Wall have gathered at the site since the late 1980s, praying aloud and often smuggling small Torah scrolls into their designated section to lead prayers.

The 2016 ruling on a mixed-gender prayer space would have established a new area at the Western Wall for men and women to pray together.

“Now I know a promise made to women is not a promise. And an agreement made with women is not an agreement, as far as the Israeli government goes,” said Sachs.

On Monday, the Jewish Agency for Israel, an nonprofit that works on strengthening ties between Israel and the Jewish diaspora, canceled a gala dinner planned for that evening with Netanyahu over the government’s ruling.

The agency also passed a resolution urging the Israeli government to reverse its decision, which chairman Natan Sharansky said “will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world together increasingly more difficult.”</s>Israel’s government formally suspended plans on Sunday for a mixed-gender prayer space at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, bowing to opposition from Orthodox Jewish politicians to reforms at one of Judaism’s holiest sites. The decision will put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at odds with the Conservative and Reform movements of Judaism that have large followings outside Israel but will smooth his relations with ultra-Orthodox parties in his ruling coalition.

The wall is revered as a vestige of Judaism’s two ancient temples and access to it is segregated by gender. Most religious rites take place in the men’s section in accordance with centuries-old Orthodox standards that hold sway in Israel. The government has faced calls by more progressive Jewish movements in Israel and abroad to add an egalitarian section along the wall and in 2016 voted 15-5 to do so, over the objections of ultra-Orthodox cabinet members.

But in the face of opposition from the two ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu’s coalition, the plan never got off the ground. Last week, the two parties proposed rescinding the 2016 decision.

At its weekly meeting on Sunday, the cabinet voted to formally freeze its implementation, the officials said, and Netanyahu instructed a minister from his Likud party to formulate a new proposal.

“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,” Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, a main outreach group to Jewish communities abroad.

The mixed-gender section was to have been located at a separate expanse of the wall that, when seen from the plaza looking toward the wall, stands to the right of the current Orthodox-administered compound where men and women will still worship separately.

More liberal streams of Judaism, which outside of Israel have larger followings than Orthodoxy, chafe at the restriction. The wall is officially administered by an ultra-Orthodox rabbi.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>A high-profile body that liaises between Israel and the Jewish diaspora has reacted with fury at a decision by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to in effect abandon a plan to allow men and women to pray together at the Western Wall.

The Jewish Agency has cancelled a gala dinner with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and is to discuss the ramifications of the decision at a meeting this week.

The Israeli cabinet decided on Sunday to scrap a compromise agreement made 17 months ago, which was intended to resolve a battle lasting more than a quarter of a century over equal rights for women praying at the Western Wall.

Netanyahu came under intense pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition government and the religious authorities that manage the site, the holiest place that Jews can pray.



The plan would have created a new area for worship at the Western Wall for men and women to pray together. At present, prayer areas are segregated, with a small stretch of the wall of the ancient temple reserved for women.



The deal, made in January 2016, was welcomed by liberal and reform Jews, and the feminist group Women of the Wall, which has mounted monthly protests at the Old City site since 1989. The gatherings frequently ended in physical tussles and arrests.

Women of the Wall also demanded an end to ultra-Orthodox bans on women praying aloud, reading from the Torah and wearing traditional prayer shawls, known as tallit.

The compromise followed three years of intense negotiations between liberal Israeli and American Jewish groups and the Israeli authorities and was seen as a significant breakthrough in promoting religious pluralism in Israel, where ultra-Orthodox authorities govern almost every facet of Jewish life.



But opposition from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox religious establishment has prevented the agreement from being implemented.

Speaking after Sunday’s announcement, Moshe Gafni, the leader of the ultra-religious United Torah Judaism party, said: “We are happy about this, and thank the holy one, blessed is he, on this great success.”

But Anat Hoffman, the chairwoman of Women of the Wall, accused Netanyahu of reneging on a “historic” agreement with liberal Jewish denominations.



“This is a bad day for women in Israel,” she wrote on Facebook. “The Women of the Wall will continue to worship at the women’s section of the Western Wall with the Torah scroll, prayer shawls and phylacteries until equality for women arrives at the wall as well.”



Natan Sharansky, a former government minister and chairman of the Jewish Agency, who helped broker the original deal, said the move was a “deep disappointment”.



The agreement would have established “a dignified space for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall,’’ Sharansky said. “[The] decision signifies a retreat from that agreement and will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world closer together increasingly more difficult.”

The Jewish Agency’s board of governors, which is meeting in Jerusalem this week, said: “In light of [Sunday’s] decisions by the government of Israel, the board of governors of The Jewish Agency for Israel will be changing its entire agenda for the remaining two days of its meetings in Jerusalem, in order to address the ramifications of these decisions.

“The scheduled dinner with the participation of the prime minister has been cancelled.”

A ceremony to mark the opening of the board of governors at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Monday was also cancelled.



Salai Meridor, a former head of the Jewish Agency and former ambassador to the US, said the decision was “a slap in the face to world Jewry” and the Western Wall “belongs to all Jews”.



The American Jewish Committee said the decision would weaken ties between American Jewry and Israel. “The Kotel [Western Wall] belongs to all Jews worldwide, not to a self-appointed segment,” said its chief executive, David Harris. “This decision is a setback for Jewish unity and the essential ties that bind Israel and American Jews, the two largest centres of Jewish life in the world.”



The cabinet decision came before a deadline set by Israel’s high court of justice on Sunday for the state to respond to petitions on its failure to implement the agreement.

Thousands of Jews pray every day at the site, the last remnant of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, pushing scraps of paper bearing handwritten prayers into the cracks between stones.

The wall also attracts thousands of tourists and international dignitaries, with Pope Francis, Donald Trump and Madonna among global figures who have visited.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis strictly govern Jewish practices in Israel such as weddings, divorces and burials. The ultra-Orthodox religious establishment sees itself as responsible for maintaining traditions through centuries of persecution and assimilation, and it resists any inroads from liberals it often considers to be second-class Jews who ordain women and gay people and are overly inclusive toward converts and interfaith marriages.</s>JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet has frozen a government decision to create an official egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall.

The suspension announced Sunday comes after the haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism party and the Sephardi Orthodox Shas party, both members of the current government, put pressure on Netanyahu to scrap the agreement, including threatening to leave the coalition government.

As part of the decision, work on the egalitarian prayer area erected at Robinson’s Arch, located on the southern edge of the Western Wall plaza, will continue.

The prime minister has asked Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman and Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi to formulate a new plan that will be acceptable to the religious parties.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz reportedly voted against the decision. Education Minister Naftali Bennett was not present for the vote.

The decision negates an agreement passed in January 2016 by the government for an egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall, which was negotiated by the Reform and Conservative movements, the Women of the Wall, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli government.

Under the agreement, the egalitarian section of the wall near Robinson’s Arch was to be expanded and placed under the authority of a pluralist committee. The section would have had a common entrance with the rest of the Western Wall plaza.

Natan Sharansky, chairman of board of governors of the Jewish Agency, said in a statement issued on Sunday that he is disappointed by the government’s decision.

“Five years ago, the Prime Minister asked me to lead a joint effort to bring about a workable formula that would transform the Western Wall into, in his own words, ‘one wall for one people.’After four years of intense negotiations, we reached a solution that was accepted by all major denominations and was then adopted by the government and embraced by the world’s Jewish communities. Today’s decision signifies a retreat from that agreement and will make our work to bring Israel and the Jewish world closer together increasingly more difficult,” the statement said.

“The Jewish Agency nevertheless remains staunchly committed to that work and to the principle of one wall for one people.”

In a post on Facebook, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, executive director of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, called the decision a “sad and shameful move that capitulates to the pressure of the Haredi parties.”

The decision is “a serious violation of the basic interests of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The prime minister and his partners lent a hand to an anti-Zionist move that undermines Israel’s ties with Diaspora Jewry, and weakens the connection of millions of Jews to Jerusalem.”

Anat Hoffman, chairperson of Women of the Wall, called the decision “shameful to the government and its women ministers who were exposed using their vote against women.”

“It’s a terrible day for women in Israel when the prime minister sacrifices their rights while kowtowing to a handful of religious extremists, who want to enforce their religious customs while intentionally violating the rights of the majority of the Jewish world, 51 percent being women,” Hoffman continued.

“Women of the Wall will continue to pray as we always have in the Women’s Section at the Western Wall, with a Torah scroll and prayer shawls, until women’s equality will be established at the Kotel. Just like you wouldn’t ask a man to take off his Kipa, don’t ask us to stop praying according to our conscience,” she said.

On Sunday morning, some 100 members of the Women of the Wall participated in the monthly Rosh Chodesh service at the Western Wall. Before entering the Western Wall plaza, the women’s bags and belongings were searched, including every page on every prayer book, the group said in a statement.

The women also met disturbances by haredi Orthodox women and girls who whistled, shouted and banged in order to silence the prayer. Despite the state’s commitment to prevent such disturbances, the teen-aged girls, dressed in black with their faces covered, were not removed from the women’s section as they continued to harass the worshipers.

The women also smuggled a Torah scroll in to the women’s section and read from it as part of the service.</s>JERUSALEM (AP) - A high-profile group of Jewish leaders has cancelled a gala event 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 board of governors of The Jewish Agency, a nonprofit that works closely with the Israeli government to serve Jewish communities worldwide, says Monday it was calling off its dinner with Netanyahu. It also altered the agenda of its meetings to address a crisis that has set off a cascade of criticism.

The move reflects an unprecedented gulf that has erupted between Israel and the Jewish diaspora over how Judaism can be practiced in Israel. Most American Jews belong to its more liberal streams and feel alienated by Israel's ultra-Orthodox authorities that question their faith and practices.

FILE -- In this May 24, 2017 file photo, Jewish men pray at the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem's Old City, during Jerusalem Day celebrations. An Israeli official said Sunday, June 25, 2017 that the government has frozen a long-overdue plan to open a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem's Western Wall. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)</s>JERUSALEM (AP) — A high-profile group of Jewish leaders has cancelled a gala event 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 board of governors of The Jewish Agency, a nonprofit that works closely with the Israeli government to serve Jewish communities worldwide, says Monday it was calling off its dinner with Netanyahu. It also altered the agenda of its meetings to address a crisis that has set off a cascade of criticism.

The move reflects an unprecedented gulf that has erupted between Israel and the Jewish diaspora over how Judaism can be practiced in Israel. Most American Jews belong to its more liberal streams and feel alienated by Israel’s ultra-Orthodox authorities that question their faith and practices.</s>The Israeli government froze a long-overdue plan Sunday to open a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem's Western Wall, a major policy reversal that is likely to upset liberal streams of Judaism that represent most Jews in the United States. Israel had approved the plan in January 2016 to officially recognize a special mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall - the holiest site where Jews can pray - a compromise reached after years of negotiations between Israeli and American Jewish leaders and Israeli authorities.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Daily Times.</s>An Israeli government decision to shelve a plan that would have allowed women to pray with men at the iconic Western Wall is drawing bitter outrage from some American Jewish groups.

The Israeli government announced with little fanfare Sunday that it was scrapping a compromise agreement that would have created an area for women and men to pray together along the Wall, one of Judaism's most holy sites. Prayers have historically been segregated; a small area of the Wall is reserved for women.

The issue has been a point of contention for Conservative and Reform Jews for decades. A deal struck more than a year ago to ease the rules along the Wall — or Kotel — has been repeatedly stalled by Orthodox leaders.

The New York-based American Jewish Committee said it was "deeply disappointed" in the government's decision. The group's CEO, David Harris, lashed out at Orthodox leaders who have maintained a grip on Wall operations.

“The Kotel belongs to all Jews worldwide, not to a self-appointed segment,” Harris said. “This decision is a setback for Jewish unity and the essential ties that bind Israel and American Jews, the two largest centers of Jewish life in the world.”

The board of governors for the U.S.-based Jewish Agency, meeting in Israel, canceled a dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged elected officials in Israel to "to take all necessary action to ensure that these dangerous and damaging steps are halted."

The Conservative/Masorti Movement, representing several conservative organizations, said it "deplores this action, yet another failure to uphold an agreement reached after years of negotiations."

The statement said it sees the increasing influence of "an intolerant religious establishment as an existential threat" to Jewish unity.

"We will not rest until ... Israel fulfills the promise of its Zionist origins and founding declaration to ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex," the statement said.

Netanyahu's base of support comes from the Orthodox community, which has been lobbying against a pluralistic prayer section of the ancient, limestone Wall since the government and Conservative Jewish leaders reached the agreement in January 2016. The Cabinet decision came amid pressure from supporters of pluralistic worship who became frustrated with government inaction since the deal was reached.

Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman said Monday, however, that Netanyahu has ordered talks aimed at a pluralistic prayer section to continue.

The Wall draws thousands of worshipers and the curious each day. Last month, President Trump, wearing a black yarmulke, became the first U.S. president to visit the Wall. His wife, Melania, prayed at the section reserved for women.

Presidents have avoided the Wall in the past because of its politically charged location in the Old City, which only came under Israeli control following the Six Day War in 1967.

Not all the dissent is coming from the United States. Women of the Wall is an Israeli-based group dedicated to win more rights for women worshipers.

"From a morning of joy at Rosh Hodesh to an afternoon of outrage and disappointment," the group posted on its Facebook page. "We need your support."
The Jewish Agency for Israel Board of Governors cancels Monday's dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest Sunday's decision by his cabinet to rescind plans for a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem's Western Wall, a compromise agreement reached after three years of intense negotiations.