JERUSALEM (RNS) — The Israeli parliament’s decision to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to hold non-Orthodox and mixed-gender prayer in any part of the Western Wall complex has infuriated liberal Jews in Israel and the U.S.
Some Orthodox rabbis have also criticized the legislation, which passed the first of three readings by a margin of 56-47 on Wednesday (Feb. 25).
“This is a day that will be remembered as the moment the State sent a clear message to millions of Jews in Israel and around the world: you are not welcome in the Jewish people’s holiest site if your prayer does not align with the rabbinate’s interpretation,” the Women of the Wall women’s prayer group said in a statement.
If passed in the coming weeks or months, the controversial law would grant sole authority over the entire Western Wall complex to the Chief Rabbinate, an ultra-Orthodox governmental institution. Egalitarian prayer, women-led prayer and prayers with no gender segregation would all be banned, including in the southern section that has served as a non-Orthodox prayer space for decades.
Violators could face up to seven years in prison.
Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently nixed a reading of the bill because he knew it would anger Diaspora Jews, Avi Maoz, a member of Israel’s Knesset, had no such qualms. He introduced a “private member’s” bill that has received the support of several political parties.
The bill would amend an existing Protection of the Holy Places Law, which went into effect in 1967, soon after Israel captured East Jeru …