PM says non-Orthodox protests at Western Wall self-defeating

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chastises the non-Orthodox Jewish movements and pluralistic prayer advocates who held a protest in the women’s section at the Western Wall in Jerusalem this morning over the ongoing restrictions on non-Orthodox worship at the foot of Judaism’s holiest site.

Liberal Jewish activists enter the Western Wall carrying Torah scrolls on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 (courtesy)

“The unfortunate incident this morning at the Western Wall does not help advance a solution for prayer arrangements there,” Netanyahu says in a statement released by his office in Hebrew and English.

“The prime minister and the Speaker of the Knesset said yesterday to the leaders of the non-Orthodox movements [during a meeting of the Jewish Agency Board of Governors] that now is the time for dialogue and not for unnecessary friction. The unilateral violation of the status quo at the Western Wall this morning undermines our ongoing efforts to reach a compromise.”