Chief rabbis slam High Court for telling government to advance Western Wall egalitarian plaza upgrade

Chief Rabbis Kalman Ber and David Yosef attack the High Court of Justice for its decision to instruct the government to move forward with the upgrade of the Western Wall egalitarian plaza following a hearing on the topic on Tuesday, three years after the last one.

“The Chief Rabbis of Israel view the High Court’s decision with great severity, as it was rendered while exceeding authority and constitutes improper intervention in the holiest site of the Jewish people,” they say in a statement. “This is not a technical issue, but a fundamental question concerning the sanctity of the Western Wall and the preservation of the generations-long traditions practiced there.”

The Court described its decision earlier today as the implementation of practical aspects already determined in the past. An upgrade of the egalitarian plaza located at the southern end of the Wall and known as “Ezrat Israel” was approved by the cabinet in 2016, and the commitment was reiterated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017 with a Prime Minister’s Office directive, but never came to fruition in the following years.

In today’s decision, the Court clarified that no additional cabinet approval is required for the building permits, but the parties may request renewed approval from the Israel Antiquities Authority. Following that, the state will need to file the application for the permits within 14 days and an appeal to the Committee for Planning and Building, Jerusalem District if no answer is received within 45 days.

The Court also said that the State of Israel and the Jerusalem Municipality shall submit an update on the matter within 90 days.

In the statement, the chief rabbis ask the Court to “refrain from intervening in the sacred matters of the Western Wall.”