Netanyahu Says Non-Orthodox Jews Using Western Wall For Leverage
Image by getty images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called out the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel for using their partnership in the Western Wall agreement as a clandestine way to gain recognition.
Netanyahu told reporters in New York on Monday night that the Reform and Conservative movements wanted to get recognition “via the backdoor, secretly, under the pretext of a technical clause of joint administration of the Western Wall,” Army Radio reporter Ilil Shahar said in a tweet.
רהמ בתדריך לכתבים: במתווה הכותל הרפורמים והקונסרבטיבים רצו לקבל הכרה בדלת האחורית, בהחבא, באמתלה של סעיף טכני לשותפות בניהול הכותל.
— ilil shahar (@ilils1) September 19, 2017
Amid pressure by its haredi Orthodox coalition partners, the Israeli government in June suspended the agreement to expand and upgrade the egalitarian prayer section at the southern end of the Western Wall after passing the deal in 2016.
Rabbi Gilad Kariv, director of the Reform movement in Israel, said in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon that Netanyahu was now fully in the haredi camp and his “Stockholm Syndrome” has extended from his being a hostage to the religious parties to speaking on their behalf.
“The State of Israel does not belong to you and your haredi Orthodox partners, but to all citizens and citizens of the state, and to all streams of the Jewish people,” he said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
