Israel Suspends Plan for Egalitarian Prayer Area at Western Wall<br />By ISABEL KERSHNERJUNE 25, 2017<br />JERUSALEM — Yielding to pressure from his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday backtracked on a decision to create a space at the Western Wall in Jerusalem where men<br />and women can pray together and non-Orthodox rituals can be practiced.<br />The iconic wall in Jerusalem’s contested Old City, a potent symbol for Jews around the world<br />and a place for quiet reflection, has become the focal point in recent years of a battle over rituals between the strictly Orthodox authorities who control most religious life in Israel and the more diverse and liberal communities here and abroad.<br />Avigdor Lieberman said that Today’s cancellation of the decision is a severe blow to the unity of the Jewish people, the Jewish communities<br />and the fabric of the relationship between the state of Israel and the Jews in the Diaspora,<br />The agreement for the new egalitarian prayer space, adopted 17 months ago by the government after years of negotiations<br />with Jewish leaders, was supposed to restore harmony at the ancient site, the holiest place where Jews can pray.<br />Uri Ariel, the agriculture minister from the Jewish Home Party who supported canceling the 2016 decision, said, "It took time,<br />but we have succeeded in persuading the government to cancel the deal, which damaged the Kotel and the Jewish status quo."
