The spokesperson reportedly said that by not appealing the Jerusalem District Court
ruling in favor of WoW to Israel's High Court of Justice, Weinstein
accepts it, which means that for now, in the short term, Women of
the Wall can pray at the Kotel (Western Wall) in the women's section in
any way they want to. That means WoW members can wear tefillin
(phylacteries) and tallits (prayer shawls) and read from the Torah, and
the police cannot legally stop them.
According to the JTA, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein's spokesperson clarified Weinstein's position on Women of the Wall (WoW) today after his statement issued yesterday – which was essentially thumbing the government's nose at a Jerusalem District Court ruling supporting WoW –caused widespread anger and condemnation.
The spokesperson said that by not appealing the Jerusalem District Court ruling in favor of WoW to Israel's High Court of Justice, Weinstein accepts it, which means that for now, in the short term, Women of the Wall can pray at the Kotel (Western Wall) in the women's section in any way they want to. That means WoW members can wear tefillin (phylacteries) and tallits (prayer shawls) and read from the Torah, and the police cannot legally stop them.
But Weinstein's position as released yesterday is still in place, and it has a second part to it, and it is that part that WoW reacted so strongly against yesterday.
Naftali Bennett, the Zionist Orthodox religious services minister, has been tasked to propose new amendments to the law governing the Kotel – amendments that could redefine what the site's "local custom" really is.
What does that mean for WoW?
Women of the Wall's Chairwoman Anat Hoffman met with Bennett earlier today. According to the JTA, she said Bennett told her that he could make reading from the Torah, singing out loud, wearing a tallit and wearing tefillin illegal.
However, Hoffman reportedly said the meeting was still positive, noting that Bennett is open to dialogue.
As what the JTA called a gesture of goodwill, WoW will not read from the Torah Friday as it had originally planned to do.
"We felt a feeling that he was listening to us. He heard there was a lot of interest and concern about us among world Jewry. He wants to know that it's possible to work with us," Hoffman told the JTA.
Bennett reportedly said he would have his amendments finished within a month.
Even though Weinstein's decision – which, again, essentially spat on the District Court and favored haredim – has apparently not been enough to calm haredi leaders.
Yeshiva World reported that while haredi leaders are divided in how to react to these latest developments, a large protest is still possible.
"There are different opinions in the frum world surrounding the planned tefilla event [WoW's planned Friday prayer service], with some of the opinion that the machlokes [argument, dissent, fighting] should be avoided. Others are adamant in their determination to prevent such events [like WoW's prayer service] from taking place [at the Kotel]. It appears there will be a large police presence on hand to maintain order as the tefilla service will without a doubt enjoy prominent coverage by the media," the Yeshiva World report reads, implying that the responsibility for any possible violence or bad behavior by haredim is the media's and not the haredi community's. That may mean that at least some of the more extreme haredi groups will riot on Friday.