American Jews to powwow with Israeli officials on Western Wall compromise

American Jewish leaders and the Israeli prime minister’s office are slated to begin a high-level meeting to discuss the contentious Western Wall compromise.

Netanyahu and head of the PMO’s negotiating team, David Sharan, are expected to meet with Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky and other key players in the Western Wall compromise, including Women of the Wall head Anat Hoffman, the Israeli head of the Reform movement Rabbi Gilad Kariv and his American counterpart Rabbi Rick Jacobs, as well as the Israeli head of the Conservative movement Yitzar Hess and American rabbis Julie Schoenfeld and Steve Wernick. The Jewish Federations of North American are represented by Jerry Silverman and Rebecca Caspi.

The meeting is expected to address moving forward after the original January 31 government decision, which called for a pluralistic prayer pavilion to be established in what is today the Davidson Archeological Park abutting the southern end of the Western Wall, was stymied by protest from ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition.

Sources close to the negotiating team suggest that the meeting will result in a modified version of the government decision.

For the ultra-Orthodox parties, the two main modifications will include the cancellation of a much-lauded joint entrance to the Western Wall pavilion and the removal of government funding for the establishment and maintenance of the egalitarian pavilion. Rather, equal funding will be found from nonprofits such as the Jewish Agency, JFNA, and other sources.

If liberal Jewry accepts these compromises, there could be future flexibility in further “major considerations” in return, speculates one insider.

— Times of Israel staff