 |
| Women of the Wall at the Western Wall |
The Israeli prime Minister has announced that he has approved a plan to create a mixed gender prayer section at the Western Wall, according to press reports in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given approval the the Jewish Agency chief, Natan Sharansky, to move forward with his plan to create a new space for mixed gender prayer services at the Western Wall.
Sharansky asked Netanyahu to meet with two of his top aides, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, in order to develop a timetable for implementing the plan. Netanyahu and Sharansky held an informal discussion on the issue while visiting London last week to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Sharansky said that Netanyahu liked the basic outline of the plan and he was impressed with how well the news was received in the Jewish world.
“This is great news for the Jewish community around the world. The Western Wall should be a place of unity and now, all types of Jews will be able to pray in peace at the Western Wall,” Zachary Myers, 47, of Miami Beach, Florida told YourJewishNews.com after learning about the new plan.
Netanyahu had asked Sharansky to devise a plan to resolve the conflict over women’s prayer at the wall, under the pressure of world Jewish leaders angered by the police crackdown in recent months against women praying at the wall with prayer shawls. During the last few months, police have arrested women participating in the monthly prayer service organized by the Women of the Wall, which is a prayer group for women.