PM to oppose women’s Torah scrolls at Western Wall — report

Netanyahu said to support ‘status quo’ at the Jerusalem site, despite previously promising to make it ‘a source for unity’

By Raoul Wootliff and Sue Surkes

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29 December 2015, 3:46 pm

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In this Friday, Oct. 8, 2010, file photo, an Israeli woman of the Women of the Wall organization wears tefillin, a leather strapped box containing Torah scripture which is used for prayer, as she holds a Torah and prepares to pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill, File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly set to side with the ultra-Orthodox parties and oppose the use of Torah scrolls in the women’s section at the Western Wall.

Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office told Army Radio on Tuesday that Netanyahu would support the status quo at the Jerusalem holy site in a state response to a High Court of Justice petition demanding that women be permitted to bring scrolls into their section.

The petition was submitted by the Women of the Wall group, which seeks to promote women’s prayer rights at the site and has long advocated for permission to bring Torah scrolls into the women’s section as part of their services, which is prohibited under the rules of the site.

In the past, the group has smuggled a mini-Torah scroll into the women’s section. During a service in April, male supporters of the group hoisted a scroll over the divider between the men’s and women’s sections, sparking violent opposition from other worshipers.

Illustrative photo of women dancing with a Torah scroll at the Western Wall, April 20, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Women of the Wall gather at the Western Wall at the start of each Jewish month for the morning prayer service. Its members have long been at odds with staff from the office of the rabbi of the Western Wall and the holy sites of Israel, and with police, for holding services that violate the rules enforced by the office.

A 2013 Supreme Court ruling acknowledged women’s right to pray at the Western Wall according to their beliefs, claiming it does not violate what has come to be known as the “local custom.”

Regulations at the site set by the office, though, while allowing women to wear prayer shawls and kippot, prevent them from using a Torah scroll in their section.

The decision about Torah scrolls in the women’s section comes despite a speech given by Netanyahu in November, in which he espoused support for efforts to make the Western Wall more inclusive.

Speaking at the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual General Assembly, Netanyhau said he hoped his government would reach the “long overdue understanding that will ensure that the Kotel [Western Wall] will be a source of unity for the Jewish people, not a point of division.”

PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Jewish Federations General Assembly in Washington DC on November 10, 2015 (photo credit: Ron Sachs, JFNA)

He received warm applause when he said that his government was working to strengthen “Reform and Conservative communities within Israel.”

“As prime minister of Israel, I will always ensure that all Jews can feel at home in Israel, Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, Orthodox Jews,” Netanyahu pledged.

“The unity of the Jewish people is important at all times, but especially in these times,” he added.

Rebecca Shimoni Stoil contributed to this report.