Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed the
quasi-governmental Jewish Agency to find a solution for Jewish female
groups that want to pray at the Western Wall, known as the Kotel in
Hebrew, but that do not want to follow restrictive haredi
interpretations of Jewish law.
Women praying at the Kotel
After Disastrous Arrest Of American Female Rabbi And British Teens At Kotel, Netanyahu Asks Sharansky To Deal With The Problem
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency to find a solution for Jewish female groups that want to pray at the Western Wall, known as the Kotel in Hebrew, but that do not want to follow restrictive haredi interpretations of Jewish law.
Netanyahu asked Natan Sharansky, the Jewish Agency’s chairman, to look for a solution, Ha’aretz reported.
Last week Israeli police detained more women who arrived at the Kotel wearing tallits, prayer shawls. Jewish law allows women to wear a tallit, although the fringed garment is usually only worn by men, especially in haredi communities.
Haredim historically reacted to women wearing tallits at the kotel by rioting. To prevent that, the High Court of Justice banned women from wearing tallits there, but also mandated that the state must find an equitable solution to women’s desire to pray freely there.
Even though years have passed since the High Court’s ruling, the state has made no real progress in finding a an equitable solution for women or for non-Orthodox groups, but it has managed to use its police force to arrest, harass, intimidate and sometimes assault many women who have tried to wear tallits or read from Torah scrolls there.
The latest incident happened last week, when police detained and interrogated two British teenagers and a noted American female rabbi, Elyse Frishman, for three hours for wearing tallits. Police tried to force the women to sign a statement admitting that they “disturbed the public peace.” The women refused and were eventually released with orders not to return to the Kotel.
The incident – which closely followed several others, including one in which Women of the Wall leader Anat Hoffman was handcuffed and allegedly dragged across the floor of a police station, thrown into a cell with prostitutes, and left there overnight – sparked outrage among Diaspora Jewish groups because of Rabbi Elyse Frishman’s involvement.
Jewish Agency spokesman Benjamin Rutland told Ha’aretz that Netanyahu – who has done little to fight illegal haredi discrimination against women and who is known for skirting and ignoring outright High Court rulings supporting women’s rights – told Sharansky that the Kotel "must remain a source of Jewish unity rather than division."
Netanyahu needs a compliant Diaspora Jewry after his disastrous meddling in the American elections on behalf of Republican Mitt Romney failed miserably last month.