The past week has been a wake-up call for those of us who care deeply about Jewish Peoplehood, the future of Israel-Diaspora relations, and Jewish pluralism here in Israel. But the story of the chaos we’re seeing unfold – from the Supreme Court to the Kotel itself to the halls of the Knesset – truly began over two decades ago with an important process led by then-Cabinet Secretary and current President of Israel, Isaac Herzog. That process led to the historic establishment of an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel, facing the southern part of the wall. It is here, over the past three decades, that thousands of Jews – Israelis and Jews from abroad – have celebrated their Bnei Mitzvah, held meaningful sunrise tefilla, and felt at home being able to pray according to their custom at the holy site.

Over a decade ago, I participated in historic negotiations for formal recognition of the “Ezrat Israel” platform (the Egalitarian Kotel) under the auspices of then-Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Cabinet Secretary, Avichai Mandelblit, and Natan Sharansky, then the Chairman of the Jewish Agency. These were tough negotiations, but ultimately we reached a groundbreaking agreement: official state recognition of the site, including state funding, an official body with Conservative and Reform representation to run it, and moving the entrance to the site beyond the security checkpoint, making it an equal option alongside the well-known men’s and women’s sections for worshippers arriving at the Kotel. Infrastructure improvements to the site were also part of the agreement.

Of course, this was not without sacrifices. It meant releasing any claim to the well-known, “traditional” Kotel, including an end to Women of the Wall’s Rosh Hodesh prayers there. But with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s support and the evident assent of the ultra-Orthodox parties, we felt that we had put an end to a saga that had long divided the Jewish people and been a stain on life at this holy site.

A deal frozen, a promise broken

Unfortunately, under later political pressure from the ultra-Orthodox parties, Prime Minister Netanyahu froze the implementation of this agreement. This left Ezrat Israel in limbo for years. The site continued to host thousands of Jews from Israel and around the world under the management of the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel, but without the promised recognition, funding and infrastructure improvements. Indeed, when a stone fell at the site seven years ago, for safety reasons, access to the stones of the Kotel itself at Ezrat Israel was restricted. That restriction remains in place today because for seven years, the City of Jerusalem and the Israeli government have played games, passing the buck to one another for being responsible for the lack of repairs when in fact, the simple truth is for political reasons – the ultra-Orthodox influence in both entities’ governing bodies – they don’t want the repairs made and access restored.

Fast forward to last week, when the Supreme Court finally issued its historic ruling ordering work on the infrastructure repairs to proceed. The ruling will enable access to the stones for the first time in years. The Court gave the government 45 days to show progress on the bureaucratic approvals needed for the construction.

The ruling was based on a government decision on infrastructure maintenance and improvements at the site that had not been repealed, and was therefore still in effect. The Court said the government must ultimately implement its own adopted policy from years ago. This ruling is, of course, a significant victory for those who believe that Jews of all streams deserve a safe, worthy site to pray according to their custom at the Kotel.

It also came as no surprise that the same week as this historic ruling, the Israel Police, presumably under pressure from ultra-Orthodox forces frustrated by the legal process, arrested Women of the Wall CEO Yochi Rappaport and my fellow WZO Executive Board member Tammy Gottlieb at Women of the Wall’s Rosh Hodesh Adar services, the first such arrests at the organization’s services in many years.

Turning the Kotel into a political weapon

Following these developments, some of the most extreme members of this right-wing government saw an opportunity to advance their agenda of religious fanaticism and to continue their battle against Israel’s independent judiciary. Knesset member Avi Maoz, a well-known homophobe who in prior weeks had tried to pass legislation canceling recognition of Conservative and Reform conversions, entered the fray. As did Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who attacked the Supreme Court for “crossing a red line” by intervening in a matter related to the management of the Kotel site: this despite his own support for the Kotel Agreement as Minister of Tourism a decade ago. Together with ultra-Orthodox MKs, Levin and Maoz pushed a false narrative that the Supreme Court was imposing the creation of an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel to the detriment of the existing men’s and women’s sections. In fact, as they well know, the Supreme Court decision was simply about fixing a two-meter piece of wood at a site that has already existed for many years.

What was Levin and Maoz’s solution? They proposed legislation granting the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate the sole authority to define what constitutes “desecration” of the Kotel. Knowing their hardline position on the matter of non-Orthodox prayer, together with Israeli law’s existing sentence of seven years for desecration of a holy site, their intention is clear: Levin and Maoz are aiming to make it possible to imprison Jews who pray in an egalitarian fashion at the Egalitarian Kotel, women who read from the Torah, and anyone else they believe goes against their approach to Jewish practice. This legislation is currently on the Knesset agenda for a preliminary vote this Wednesday.

Instead of moving forward in the manner agreed upon by leaders of world Jewry and the Israeli government, this legislation would take us backwards. Frankly, if this legislation were adopted in any other country – seven years in jail for a Jew praying according to his or her custom at a Jewish holy site – we would rightly label it as antisemitic. It is yet another sad example of how Israel is, in many ways, the only country in the Western world without full freedom of religion for Jews.

The Prime Minister, under whose guidance the historic Kotel Agreement was negotiated a decade ago, must step in and stop this madness. Otherwise, immense damage will be done to Israel-Diaspora ties that are of historic, moral and strategic importance for the future of Israel and the Jewish people. The Knesset voting to advance legislation that would enable the outlawing of egalitarian prayer at the egalitarian platform that has existed for many years would be a declaration of war by the Jewish state on Jewish communities abroad.

This isn’t just a moral disaster. Given Israel’s place as the nation-state of the Jewish people and the support these communities have shown for Israel these past difficult years, it is strategic idiocy as we in Israel sit facing a potential escalation where the support of these communities will once again be pivotal. The clear majority of the world’s Jews are non-Orthodox; there has long been and must remain a space for them at the Kotel.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)