Knesset approves bill strengthening Orthodox authority over the Western Wall

Knesset gives preliminary backing to a bill proposed after the Supreme Court ordered the government to expand a mixed-gender prayer space at the Western Wall designated for non-Orthodox services.

By World Israel News Staff

The Knesset voted on Wednesday to give preliminary backing to legislation strengthening Orthodox authority over the Western Wall Plaza and limiting the ability of the Supreme Court to interfere in the administration of the Jewish holy site.

The bill was drafted by MK Avi Maoz, the lone representative of the right-wing religious Zionist Noam Party, and won the backing of 56 MKs, with 47 lawmakers voting against the bill.

Left-wing opposition lawmakers attempted to filibuster the vote, repeatedly disrupting the preliminary reading of the bill.

While most members of the coalition voted in favor of the bill, there were some right-wing MKs who abstained or were absent from the vote, including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud), Yuli Edelstein (Likud), and Aryeh Deri (Shas).

The vote sends the bill to committee for review before it is approved in the follow-up readings.

If passed into law, the bill will give the Chief Rabbinate authority over the Western Wall Plaza, undercutting a recent Supreme Court ruling enjoining the state to expand and upgrade a prayer space at the Western Wall allotted for mixed-gender, non-Orthodox prayer.

The ruling last Thursday was seen as a symbolic victory for the Reform and Conservative movements, which have long sought to use Supreme Court-mandated changes to the status quo at the holy site as a means to further weaken the Orthodox religious establishment in Israel.

The proposed law gives the Chief Rabbinate full authority to define what behavior or actions constitute “desecration” of Jewish holy sites and mandates that the Religious Affairs Ministry must consult with the country’s two chief rabbis before altering regulations for Jewish holy sites like the Western Wall Plaza.

“Today the Knesset set a clear boundary to High Court intervention in the sanctity of the Western Wall,” MK Maoz said after the vote. “It is unacceptable that a court should determine what constitutes desecration at the holiest site for the Jewish people.”

“This law returns authority to its natural and proper place — the authority of Israel’s chief rabbis — and prevents the High Court from continuing to shape the character of the Western Wall contrary to halakha and to the intent of the legislature. This is a value-based, national, and historic step.”