The High Court of Justice on Thursday instructed the government to move forward with the upgrade of the Western Wall egalitarian plaza, in a ruling that drew fiery denunciations from the country’s chief rabbis and ultra-Orthodox politicians.

In its decision, the High Court told state authorities to complete the necessary bureaucracy to obtain building permits to restore and upgrade the egalitarian plaza, following a hearing on the topic held Tuesday.

The court said the state and the Jerusalem Municipality should submit an update on the matter within 90 days.

The justices clarified that no additional approval is required, but the parties may request renewed approval from the Israel Antiquities Authority. Following that, the state will need to file the application for building permits within 14 days and an appeal to the Committee for Planning and Building, Jerusalem District, if no answer is received within 45 days.

“For nine years, the state and the municipality have been dragging their feet and refusing to promote an egalitarian, respectful, and accessible alternative in the Ezrat Israel,” Attorneys Ori Narov and Orly Erez-Likhovski, who represent the Reform Movement in Israel, one of the petitioners, said in a statement. “Now, the court is ordering an end to the foot-dragging.”

In their statement condemning the ruling, the chief rabbis asked the court to “refrain from intervening in the sacred matters of the Western Wall.”

“The Chief Rabbis of Israel view the High Court’s decision with great severity, as it was rendered while exceeding authority and constitutes improper intervention in the holiest site of the Jewish people,” Chief Rabbis Kalman........

© The Times of Israel