In a move with far-reaching implications for the kedushah and hanhagas hamakom at the Kosel, Knesset members voted 56–47 on Wednesday in favor of the preliminary reading of legislation granting the Chief Rabbinate full authority over tefillah arrangements at all areas of the Kosel.

The proposal immediately drew fierce criticism from “progressive” and leftist Jewish organizations, which denounced the measure as “patronizing and antisemitic.”

The bill, introduced by Noam MK Avi Maoz, seeks to counter last week’s ruling by the High Court of Justice requiring the state to proceed with upgrading the egalitarian plaza at the Kosel. That area, referred to as Ezras Yisroel, has been designated for non-Orthodox prayer services. The long-delayed renovation was part of the so-called Kosel compromise approved by Netanyahu’s government roughly a decade ago, which envisioned a pluralistic prayer platform at the site.

Under the new legislation, the two Chief Rabbis of Israel would be granted ultimate authority over Jewish holy sites, including Ezras Yisroel, and any activity conducted in opposition to their directives — such as non-Orthodox prayer services — would be defined as a “desecration.”

Current law stipulates that desecrating a holy site is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu canceled a session of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in what was seen as an effort to avoid official government backing of the bill and potential backlash from Diaspora Jewry. In the end, Netanyahu allowed coalition members to vote according to their own judgment. Several Likud lawmakers, among them Yuli Edelstein and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, did not participate in the vote.

After the bill cleared its preliminary stage, Maoz hailed the legislation as safeguarding the kedushas hamakom and said it would “unify the Jewish people, both those in Israel and those in the Diaspora.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who also holds the religious services portfolio, voiced strong support for the proposal and urged swift passage in order to “put an end to the High Court’s interference in the management of the Kosel.”

The Shas party welcomed the bill, describing it as a necessary stand against “attempts to desecrate and violate the rules of the place that have been practiced for generations.” United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni framed the measure as a defeat for the Reform Movement, which he labeled “the destroyers of the Jewish people.”

According to a Telegram post by Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told members of his Otzma Yehudit faction that the bill would strengthen Jewish control over Har Habayis. However, the legislation itself makes no mention of Har Habayis, which, despite its centrality in Yiddishkeit, is not formally defined under Israeli law as a Jewish holy site.

Following the vote — which now sends the bill to committee for further deliberation ahead of the three readings required for final passage — progressive Jewish leaders issued strong statements condemning the move as an affront to non-Orthodox Jews and Diaspora communities.

Anna Kislanski, CEO of the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism, declared that the bill is “patronizing and antisemitic.” She added, “The State of Israel is about to criminalize non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall. What hypocrisy. If such a law were to be passed in the United States, Australia or Britain, and prevent Jews from holding their prayers under threat of imprisonment for up to seven years, the State of Israel would immediately launch a fierce fight against antisemitism.”

The Women of the Wall organization described the Knesset vote as a “black day for the Jewish people,” asserting that the State of Israel had “divorced Diaspora Jewry and declared outright that they are not welcome and are not accepted in the home of the Jewish people.”

The group further warned that a government prepared to imprison women for reading from the Torah at the Kosel is “taking giant strides toward becoming Iran.”

Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, himself a Reform rabbi, sharply criticized the bill, stating: “Avi Maoz’s crazy law approved in a preliminary reading turns anyone who disobeys the Chief Rabbinate into a criminal who must be thrown in jail.” He added, “We will not allow Avi Maoz and Binyomin Netanyahu to spit in the face of our brothers around the world, who, while they are dealing with an unprecedented wave of antisemitism, are being stabbed in the back by the government and the coalition.”

World Zionist Organization Vice Chairman Yizhar Hess, formerly CEO of the Masorti movement, echoed those concerns. “Today’s approval of moving forward with legislation to imprison Jews who pray at the Egalitarian Kotel will always be remembered as a dark day in the history of Zionism and the nation-state of the Jewish people,” he said.

{Matzav.com}