Once Again, an Attack on the Kedusha of the Kosel

Let us begin with the issue of the Kosel Hamaaravi.

Last week, I wrote about how the judges of the Supreme Court have been constantly pushing the limits of their power further and further. The events of the past week seem to have shown that my words were more prescient than I realized. Last weekend, the judges overstepped the bounds of their power even more than before, this time weighing in on an issue that seems undisputed—the sanctity of the Kosel. The verdict issued by the judges, including the yarmulke-wearing Justice Sohlberg, drew sharp condemnation from many directions, which was not limited to the chareidi representatives.

I spoke with several chareidi politicians, including some who held ministerial positions until not long ago, and I saw that they had not been properly informed about the court’s verdict. They believed that the Supreme Court decided to award the Reform movement an additional section at the Kosel, adjacent to the existing sections for men and women. This would entail dividing the two existing sections into three separate ones. This, however, is not what the court decided. When one wishes to attack a court ruling, it is important to know what the ruling is.

I will lay out the facts as precisely as possible. Six years ago, the government passed a decision to grant a specific area at the Kosel to the Reform movement. The discussion at the time concerned an area near the Kosel plaza on the right side, which is known as the Ezras Yisroel or southern plaza. The government made it clear that this referred to a third area that was removed from the main Kosel plaza. Naturally, the Reform movement was outraged even by this and complained vociferously about the “segregation” and the fact that they were relegated to a different area as if they were pariahs. Nevertheless, they were secretly pleased with the development, since it gave them a measure of recognition. At the time, there was also talk of establishing an administration for the Reform section and granting them government funding.

You are probably wondering why the chareidim agreed to this decision at all. Why allow the Reform movement a foothold at the Kosel? There were two reasons. First, Netanyahu exerted enormous pressure on the chareidi parties, since he, in turn, was under massive pressure from the Reform movement in America to create a Reform prayer section. Second, the chareidim feared that if they didn’t consent to the allocation of a separate section for Reform prayer, the Supreme Court would impose an even worse arrangement on everyone, insisting that the Reform movement deserved an equal share of the space in the regular plaza. The religious parties anticipated that the court would call for the existing Kosel plaza to be split into three sections so that it could be shared with the Reform movement—which, from a chareidi point of view, would have been the worst possible outcome. To avert this, they decided to endorse a smaller concession to the Reform movement as a preemptive measure.

But things did not proceed smoothly from there. While the chareidi politicians agreed to the government decision, albeit under duress, the chareidi public wasn’t so quick to accept it. On the contrary, it evoked a storm of outrage. Ultimately, the religious politicians informed Netanyahu that they regretted their decision to support the initiative and they considered it a mistake. The government therefore decided to freeze the decision. The Reform movement wasn’t willing to take this setback lying down, and they petitioned the Supreme Court to ignore the chareidim’s change of heart and to force the government to carry out its original decision, implementing the “Kosel compromise.” They are also perturbed by the fact that the area assigned to them at the “southern Kosel,” or whatever you may wish to call it, doesn’t actually reach the stones of the Kosel; it is separated from the ancient wall by some antiquities on the ground. Furthermore, this section can be accessed only by stairs, which means that it is not accessible to people with disabilities. The Reform movement petitioned the court to order the government to remove the antiquities and make the plaza fully accessible.

Interestingly, a simple investigation has revealed that there is hardly anyone frequenting the Reform section of the Kosel. The site is almost constantly deserted, at all times of the day or night. They claim to be fighting for a place at the Kosel, but it doesn’t really seem to interest them at all. Moreover, when the Women of the Wall and other Reform activists show up on Rosh Chodesh to create provocations, they do not utilize the area assigned to the Reform movement; instead, they insist on coming to the regular women’s section. This makes it clear that their intention isn’t really to daven; instead, their goal is to create a provocation and stir up tensions.

The Chief Rabbis Reject the Court’s Authority Over Prayer

Last week, an expanded panel of seven Supreme Court justices, headed by Chief Justice Yitzchok Amit, ruled that the original agreement regarding the Kosel must be advanced, even though it was canceled by the government. The judges ruled that the decision passed by the ministerial committee in 2018 to establish a section for Reform prayer remains in effect, and that no additional government decision is needed for construction permits for the Ezras Yisroel plaza to be approved. The judges therefore ruled that the applications for construction permits should be reviewed, and a schedule was set for the process to continue. They added that the government is required to work quickly to receive permits from the Antiquities Authority so that the construction permits can be released quickly. The judges ordered the state and the municipality of Yerushalayim to report on their progress within three months.

In its ruling, the court ordered the government to act to submit new applications for construction permits no later than 14 days after receiving approval from the director of the Antiquities Authority, in the event that such approval is necessary. The verdict also states that if no decision is made on the applications within 45 days of their submission, it will be considered a refusal, in accordance with the Planning and Building Law. In that case, the state will be required to submit an appeal to the Planning and Building Appeals Committee of the Yerushalayim district within 14 days. The court stressed in its ruling that if the matter is brought before the appeals committee, it will exercise its authority and abide by the timetables enshrined in law. The judges ordered all relevant bodies, including the Yerushalayim municipality, to work quickly to advance the approvals. The judges also ordered the state and the municipality to file an update for the court’s files within 90 days.

What was infuriating about this wasn’t only the judges’ constantly mounting audacity, or the fact that they are attempting to force the government to implement a decision that it decided to freeze, or even the fact that they always side with the Reform movement. Even more than all these things, the court showed exceptional temerity this time by exhibiting disdain for the chief rabbis, who wrote that the judges do not have the authority to rule on matters concerning tefillah and the Kosel. The two chief rabbis, Rav Dovid Yosef and Rav Kalman Ber, submitted a halachic document to the court containing a signed professional opinion asserting that the Kosel plaza has a binding halachic status stemming from its proximity to the site of the Bais Hamikdosh, and it is viewed as having the status of a shul. As a result, the Kosel plaza is subject to the same halachic rules and guidelines that apply to places of davening, including the requirement for men and women to be segregated and the preservation of minhagim that have been observed at the site for generations. The rabbonim argued that changing the regulations at the site would harm the broader community of mispallelim and impair the unity surrounding one of the Jewish people’s holiest sites. They added that this is a religious issue that cannot be determined in the courts. The document also states that it is possible to hold tefillos in a different format in the southern plaza known as Ezras Yisroel, and there is no need to undermine the existing situation in the main plaza. The rabbonim warned that any change in the status quo is likely to lead to a major public controversy and to harm the site’s sanctity. The Chief Rabbinate also announced in a public statement that the Kosel Hamaaravi is not a forum for communal conflicts, and that the traditions that have been maintained there must be upheld.

One might debate whether it was a correct move for the chief rabbis to mention the southern plaza, but the most important point is that they argued that this matter is not subject to the court’s authority. This did not make any impression on the judges, who completely ignored the position of the chief rabbis of Israel.

Kosel Law to Be Discussed in Knesset on Wednesday

The court’s decision triggered harsh reactions in the chareidi community, which accused the judges of seeking to harm and desecrate the Jewish people’s holiest site. Another sharp reaction came from Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who declared, “The radical gang sitting in the Supreme Court has crossed the last red line today with its decision to raise a hand against the Jewish people’s most sacred site, the Kosel Hamaaravi. This is an illegitimate ruling that cannot be tolerated and that contradicts the fundamental values of the State of Israel and the beliefs of the vast majority of its citizens. The government and the Knesset must take action on this matter without delay. I support the immediate passage of a law stipulating that the Kosel Hamaaravi will be managed solely by the Chief Rabbinate or a different entity that receives its approval.”

The law mentioned by the justice minister is a bill that was first formulated several years ago, which states that the Chief Rabbinate holds exclusive authority over the Kosel. Of course, there were some voices in the government that were opposed to the law, but the religious community never felt the need to insist on passing it. Now, however, it has become more necessary than ever.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation meets every Sunday to determine its position on all the laws slated to be discussed in the Knesset that week. The committee’s decisions are binding for all members of the coalition. This week, Avi Maoz’s “Kosel Law” was on the committee’s agenda. As it turns out, Maoz asked to bring his law to a vote in the Knesset even before the Supreme Court released its ruling, and Yariv Levin, who heads the committee, announced that the committee would support the bill. Curious about the timing of his request, I asked Maoz why he submitted his law to the committee before the court’s ruling was known, and he laughed. “Did anyone have any doubt about what they would decide?” he replied.

However, the committee never got the chance to express its position on the bill, for a simple reason: Prime Minister Netanyahu canceled this week’s session. He did not want the bill introduced by Maoz—who happens to be a close personal friend of the prime minister—to receive the committee’s support. It wasn’t long before Yariv Levin reacted. “A few minutes ago, I received a notice about the cancellation of this week’s session of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation,” he wrote. “Without the committee meeting, there is no official government position. I intend to vote for this bill in the Knesset, and I call on all members of the Knesset, especially the members of the coalition, to follow suit and to send a message to the Supreme Court that we are drawing the line here.”

Avi Maoz, who isn’t a member of the coalition and therefore is entitled to submit new bills freely, issued his own reaction as well: “After the cancellation of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation’s session today, I plan, b’ezrat Hashem, to bring the proposed law for the preservation of the Kosel and other holy sites to a vote on Wednesday. I call on all members of the Knesset to take a stand and to vote for the integrity of the Kosel Hamaaravi and against the Supreme Court and Bennett’s plan to divide the Kosel.”

Coalition whip Ofir Katz announced on Sunday that coalition discipline will not be imposed regarding this bill, which means that the absence of a decision from the ministerial committee will not automatically obligate coalition members to vote against it.

According to Maoz’s bill—and a similar proposal authored by the chareidi Knesset members—the Kosel must be managed in accordance with religious law, and the following actions will be prohibited at the Kosel: violation of the laws of Shabbos or Jewish holidays; holding any ceremony, including a religious ceremony, contrary to established customs at the site; visiting the Kosel in attire that is not appropriate for its kedushah; holding a mixed prayer service attended by men and women together; holding any ceremony in the ezras noshim that includes taking out or reading a sefer Torah, sounding a shofar, or wearing a tallis or tefillin; and entering a section of the Kosel plaza reserved for the opposite gender without permission from the designated authority. Violation of these prohibitions may incur a punishment of six months’ imprisonment or a fine of 10,000 shekels. The representatives of Degel HaTorah, Agudas Yisroel, Shas, and Otzma Yehudit have already announced that they will support the bill.

Realizing that they pushed the envelope too far and that the Knesset is poised to pass a bill directly contradicting their ruling, the judges hastened to issue a clarification, which is a highly unusual move on their part. “We did not change anything; we merely asked the government to implement its decision,” they wrote. But this did not impress anyone. The struggle has already begun, and I believe that the bill will pass the Knesset vote. After that, the Knesset will probably be forced to finally pass the bill curbing the judges’ authority to strike down government decisions and laws passed by the Knesset.

Justice Minister: One Cannot Boycott Someone Who Wasn’t Elected

As I mentioned last week, the conflict over the Kosel has come on the heels of a series of other power struggles between the judges of the Supreme Court and the Knesset or the minister of justice. One of the court’s recent decisions targeted the justice minister for his refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee to appoint new judges. It is, of course, hardly proper for the judges to issue a ruling on a case in which they are personally involved, but they have no concern for that minor detail. The judges do not consider themselves responsible to avoid bias or a conflict of interest. In their eyes, they are angels who can do no wrong.

Responding to Justice Minister Levin’s refusal to convene the committee, the judges issued an order prohibiting him from boycotting the chief justice of the Supreme Court and instructing him to cooperate with Amit. As an alternative, they demanded that the prime minister strip Levin of his authority over the committee for the appointment of judges.

Levin responded, “I am not boycotting the chief justice of the Supreme Court, because there is no chief justice of the Supreme Court. The appointment of a chief justice requires the signature of the prime minister and publication in the official government gazette. Since Netanyahu did not sign on this appointment and it was not publicized, the signature of the president does not validate Amit’s appointment.” Levin added that the petition seeking his own dismissal is contrary to the will of the voting public, as is the petition against the “excellent minister” (in his words) Itamar Ben-Gvir. Levin argued that no petitioner has the right to take a position against the will of the people, and that the court is effectively trying to impose regime change.

As usual, the attorney general was required to submit the government’s official position to the Supreme Court before its ruling was issued. As could only be expected, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara disagreed with the minister of justice. “The conduct of the minister of justice and his refusal to cooperate with the head of the judicial branch of the government is a continuation of the harm to the foundations of the State of Israel’s government and adversely affects the sector of the public that requires the services of the court system to exercise its legal rights,” she wrote.

If you believe that her conduct is utterly outrageous, I agree with you completely.

The judges and the Knesset have clashed—and continue to clash—over another issue as well. The prime minister of India is scheduled to visit the Knesset this Wednesday, and the Knesset will be holding a festive sitting in his honor. Yair Lapid has informed the Knesset speaker that if he excludes the chief justice of the Supreme Court from the event again (as was recently the case, when Amit did not receive an invitation to a festive occasion in the Knesset) then Yesh Atid will boycott the sitting. This infuriated the Knesset speaker, Amir Ochana, who wrote, “Threatening to undermine Israel’s international relations is not a legitimate course of action in an internal political debate. If the leader of the opposition is interested in harming the foreign relations of the State of Israel with an important ally, which is also one of the world’s most important powers, that is his decision. It is a distressing and incorrect decision, and I hope that he will retract it.”

At the cabinet session on Sunday, Netanyahu praised Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel and said, almost as an afterthought, “He will be speaking at the Knesset, and I hope you will all be there.”

The Attorney General’s Obsession

Having mentioned the attorney general, I must discuss another very important topic. The issue is the relentless persecution of Torah learners. The attorney general is obsessed with this subject. It may have begun with the judges of the Supreme Court, who called for tighter enforcement against “draft evaders,” but the attorney general is the one who has gone full throttle. Baharav-Miara holds regular meetings with officials in the Ministry of Justice, whom she questions repeatedly about the progress of arrests of Torah learners and what additional sanctions are being imposed.

Last week, Baharav-Miara was infuriated when police officials revealed that they do not permit the army to engage in enforcement activities to locate “chareidi draft evaders” in chareidi population centers, due to the concern of wide-scale disturbances of the order. The police also asserted that their many responsibilities make it impossible for them to allocate officers to assist the military police, and, for the same reason, that any draft evaders who happen to be apprehended by the police can be detained for only a very short time. These statements were made in response to a demand from the attorney general for draft evaders to be arrested in chareidi areas and for any draft dodgers captured in the course of other activities—such as at a traffic stop—to be held until the military police arrive to take them into custody. This discussion took place in the wake of the riots in Bnei Brak, where the appearance of two female soldiers triggered a massive surge of unrest. The police claimed at the time that the soldiers’ arrival in the area hadn’t been coordinated with them, and they asserted that they would weigh the possibility of collaborating with the IDF if they receive detailed advance notice of its plans—but not in chareidi population centers.

Baharav-Miara was not pleased with this approach. “This is a very difficult picture that does not align with the duty of all state entities to enforce the law,” she said angrily. “As army officials have made clear, this represents substantial harm to the effectiveness of the enforcement of the draft, fails to reach the potential of the draft, and leads to unequal enforcement.” In practice, Baharav-Miara accepted the police’s position—perhaps because she had no other choice—and ruled that the IDF should present concrete plans for enforcement operations to the police, for the purpose of coordinating its activities with law enforcement personnel. She also demanded a long list of sanctions against Torah learners for immediate implementation, with the goal of strangling bnei Torah even more.

During the same discussion, the IDF presented a set of statistics indicating a continued upward trend in the rate of enlistment among chareidim, while clarifying that the latest numbers still do not come close to satisfying their needs. The number of recruits in the first third of the current enlistment cycle (from July 1, 2025) exceeded 1,100, which was higher than the figure presented at the previous hearing on this subject. There has been an increase in enlistment to combat roles, and an even more significant rise in combat-support positions. The number of draft candidates who received a tzav 12 (a final summons before they are declared draft evaders) stands at 43,000, and the number of official draft evaders (those who ignored even the final summons) has reached 33,000. The vast majority of individuals in each group are chareidim. Professional sources within the Ministry of Defense and the Treasury stressed the need (in their view) for personal sanctions to increase compliance with the draft, particularly the revocation of economic benefits. The IDF, for its part, estimated that it will be able to step up its enforcement measures within two months, including expanding the authority of army officials to impose short-term military detention and lowering the threshold for cases to be handled by the Military Advocate General’s Corps in the military courts.

For the religious parties, this adds to the urgency of passing a draft law that will finally put an end to this endless persecution.

Foreign Yeshiva Bochurim in the Crosshairs

The government budget for yeshivos includes a clause providing funding for students from abroad. Every yeshiva receives a certain sum in funding from the government for each foreign student, based on organized lists of talmidim that the yeshivos submit to the government. When the Supreme Court ordered government funding for yeshivos frozen on the grounds that all chareidi bochurim are considered criminals for failing to enlist in the IDF, there was no reason to include the budget for foreign students in that measure. After all, foreign students are not subject to the draft, and no financial sanctions or funding cuts should apply to them. Nevertheless, Attorney General Baharav-Miara found a way to sidestep the dictates of logic for the purpose of continuing to hamstring the government, presumably as part of her overall scheme to torpedo the alliance between Netanyahu and the chareidim and thus bring down the government. Baharav-Miara announced that the government is required to freeze funding for foreign yeshiva students as well, or at least not to update the sums. Her reasoning was that a yeshiva with both Israeli and foreign students receives its funding from the government to a single account, and any funds received for the foreign talmidim will therefore benefit Israeli citizens—i.e., “draft-dodging” chareidi bochurim—as well. As an alternative, Baharav-Miara suggested that yeshivos should be required to maintain two separate accounts, one for each category of talmidim.

If you’ll excuse me for saying this, her contorted reasoning is utterly absurd.

The response came from Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, who rejected her interpretation and argued that the court’s freeze on government funding explicitly relates only to students who haven’t legally deferred their military service. He also disagreed with her demand for separate accounting for the two categories of students, which he denounced as an interpretation that exceeds the bounds of her authority. To highlight the absurdity of her stance, Fuchs added, “If every form of government support is to be scrutinized based on the concern that it might indirectly benefit someone subject to the draft, it will become necessary to cut funding to a long list of things that are supported by the government, ranging from cultural programs and local libraries to welfare and health services, since a person who is not permitted to receive government support may benefit from them indirectly.” Fuchs accused the attorney general of applying different standards in different contexts and engaging in unequal enforcement. However, perhaps he should have been more careful with his words, since the attorney general is liable to take his ideas at face value and call for them to be imposed as the next step. After all, the woman seems to have no limits at all!

A Law for Tallis and Tefillin

You certainly are familiar with my fondness for perusing the laws placed on the Knesset table by the members of the Knesset. For instance, the Yisroel Beiteinu party introduced a bill that would make the right to vote contingent on military or national service. In the explanatory notes, they added, “Identical bills were removed from the agenda on the 12th of Adar 5785 and the 14th of Cheshvan 5786.” Because the bill was scrapped, they decided to resubmit it. They also introduced another bill to promote the battle against Torah learners by stripping inmates in prison of the right to vote. How is this connected to the struggle against Torah learning? Well, Lieberman claims that his party will work to ensure that draft evaders are placed behind bars, and then they will be deprived of their ability to vote as well. How sad!

Another bill came from Yesh Atid and proposes withholding government funding from “institutions that instigate draft evasion.” The explanatory notes state that there are already sanctions on the books against those who encourage draft evasion, but there is no official mechanism to regulate or formalize the penalties.

Some of the bills are bizarre or deplorable, while others are worthy. One law proposes instituting a national day for awareness of blood pressure, and another deals with the preservation of green spaces in Yerushalayim. A third bill calls for financial aid for amateur soccer teams, and yet another bill would outlaw blocking major traffic arteries. Yisroel Beiteinu submitted a bill calling for Israeli sovereignty to be imposed on the city of Beitar Illit, which is home to 65,000 Israeli citizens. The imposition of sovereignty would remove the cloud of uncertainty regarding the city’s legal status and would fully impose Israeli law on the residents and their properties, as well as guaranteeing full and equal government funding, advanced infrastructure, and municipal services on a par with those in any other city. Who would ever have imagined that Yisroel Beiteinu would act on behalf of a chareidi city!

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a law submitted by the chairman of Degel HaTorah that requires every prison inmate or detainee in the country to be allowed to possess basic religious articles, including seforim for learning and davening, as well as a tallis and tefillin. The law will be brought to the Knesset for a preliminary reading and will continue the legislative process from there. The chareidi media reported that this bill was submitted in response to the incident in which a yungerman arrested for draft evasion was denied the ability to wear tefillin. It is very sad that there is a need for a law of this nature in a Jewish state, where the right to religious observance should be self-evident, but in light of the situation, it is certainly a worthy and appropriate bill. However, I must point out that the bill (titled “Prayer and Religious Observance for Prisoners and Detainees”) was introduced in Teves 5785/January 2025, a year prior to the outrageous experience of Avrohom Ben-Dayan. This bill was drafted by then-MK Eliyohu Bruchi and received the signatures of ten of his colleagues, including his fellow Degel HaTorah MKs as well as Avrohom Betzalel, Tzvi Sukkot, and even members of Yesh Atid and Blue and White. After the latest incident, Degel HaTorah asked for the law to be brought to a vote, and the ministerial committee gave its support to the measure.

In case you are wondering how Bruchi came up with the idea for this law a year before Ben-Dayan was arrested, it isn’t a sign that he was blessed with ruach hakodesh. The law was actually prompted by a similar incident that took place at the time, concerning a yungerman from Beit Shemesh who was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran. (To be honest, the charge of espionage is almost certainly out of place; if he was guilty of anything, it was indiscretion and foolishness.) The Prison Service has been depriving this man of his basic rights, and he has been denied access to sifrei kodesh throughout his imprisonment—on the orders of the Shin Bet, according to prison officials. To Bruchi’s credit, he has been continuing to help the prisoner despite the fact that he is no longer a member of the Knesset.

A Gift for President Trump

This week, I read that Israel plans to give a unique gift to the president of the United States: a statuette designed especially in his honor by a young Israeli named Ben-Dror, who served in the IDF reserves for 600 days. According to the report, the base of the statuette is made of stones from the Kosel, with a golden magen Dovid that appears to be bursting out of the stones.

It sounds like a nice idea, but I still remember the motion for the agenda submitted by then-MK Avrohom Betzalel, which led Minister Amichai Chikli to promise that the Kosel stones on display at the Israel Museum, in the government complex in Tel Aviv, and most recently at the airport would be returned to their places if the chief rabbis of Israel ruled that it was required. The chief rabbis and Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz then issued that psak, and the stones were returned. This made me wonder how anyone could possibly have decided to gift a stone from the Kosel to President Trump. My concerns were soon allayed by Yossi Bloch, an aide to Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, who assured me that the gift contains a replica of stones from the Kosel, and that the stones were not taken from the Kosel.

You will have to join me in keeping this secret, then. Please do not tell the president that the stones are a replica.