MKs urge PM to nix Shas bill, create egalitarian prayer space at Western Wall

29 December 2016, 5:10 pm

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Thirty coalition and opposition MKs call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sideline a new bill from Shas that would ban mixed-gender prayer at the Western Wall, and implement the plan for egalitarian worship at the Jewish holy site.

According to Ynet, the MKs say that the proposed legislation from the ultra-Orthodox party “divides the Jewish people and perpetuates discrimination against the Reform and Conservative streams, right in the land of Israel.”

Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai attends a committee meeting in the Knesset, April 13, 2016. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

“The government must honor its decisions,” says Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai, the driving force behind the call and the chair of the Knesset Lobby for Strengthening the Jewish World. “Israel is gnawing away on its own strategic and vital connection to American Jewry, leaving millions of Jews hurt and disappointed.”