Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Presidents Conference Warns Israel Over Western Wall Debacle

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An erosion of American Jewish support for Israel could result from the freezing of the Western Wall agreement, an influential Jewish umbrella group said in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It is imperative that the government move expeditiously to address this matter and come up with a resolution that is equitable to all, as you sought to do in the agreement that was reached before,” read the letter sent Wednesday by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which represents more than 50 national Jewish groups.

“Given all the challenges facing Israel and American Jewry, this is a time when achdut, unity, is more important than ever. A lack of unity could lead to an erosion of support, which has been identified by Israel’s National Security Council as a vital security asset for Israel.”

Stephen Greenberg and Malcolm Hoenlein, the chairman and executive vice chairman, respectively, of the Presidents Conference, signed the letter.

The freezing of the agreement “has evoked very strong feelings as it touched on deeply sensitive issues that are both personal and communal,” according to the letter. It also said that different points of view on the issue “can and must be brought into harmony to enable a way forward without intimidation, threats, or feelings of exclusion.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.