ISRAEL HAYOM
Decision to nix Western Wall compromise riles Diaspora
by Shlomo Cesana, Mati Tuchfeld, Yehuda Shlezinger, Yori Yalon and Staff
June 26, 2017

The government on Sunday shelved a long-overdue plan to open a mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a major policy reversal that infuriated the liberal streams of Judaism that represent most Jews in the United States. The egalitarian prayer plan was approved in January 2016 as a compromise reached after years of negotiations between liberal Israeli and American Jewish groups and the Israeli authorities. It was seen as a significant breakthrough in promoting religious pluralism in Israel, where the ultra-Orthodox establishment controls every facet of Jewish life. But the program was never implemented as powerful ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism threatened a coalition crisis if any progress on the plan was made on the ground. READ MORE

HAARETZ Reform Jews Cancel Their Meeting With Netanyahu in Protest Over Western Wall

TIMES OF ISRAEL There is already pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall. Here’s what would have changed