Religious affairs chief says Reform Jews ‘a disaster’

Israel’s religious services minister reportedly called Reform Jews “a disaster for the people of Israel.”

David Azoulay of the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party made the comments during a meeting to discuss the Women of the Wall group, Israel Hayom daily newspaper reports. The meeting reportedly took place on Tuesday between Azoulay and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of the right-wing Jewish Home party.

Azoulay is trying to clamp down on non-Orthodox practices at the Western Wall. His predecessor, Naftali Bennett, the head of Jewish Home, had agreed to a plan to establish an egalitarian section in an area adjacent to the Western Wall plaza known as Robinson’s Arch. The plan was formulated by Cabinet secretary Avichai Mandelblit and Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky to resolve religious conflict at the wall.

But Azoulay appears to be walking back the compromise.

“The Western Wall belongs to everybody,” Azoulay says, according to Israel Hayom. “What these women do is provocation. To come with tallitot, tefillin and a Torah scroll is not praying but rather provocation.”

— JTA