The Supreme Court heard this morning (Tuesday), in an expanded panel of seven judges led by Justice Yitzhak Amit, petitions seeking to compel the state to officially legalize the Ezrat Israel complex at the Western Wall, in accordance with the "Western Wall Outline." This comes after a decade in which Netanyahu governments avoided ruling on the issue that has stirred the country.
The other judges in the hearing are Noam Solberg, Dafna Barak-Erez, David Mintz, Alex Stein, Gila Kanfi-Steinitz and Khaled Kabub.
The judges refused to discuss the claims of whether it is possible to hold mixed prayers at the Western Wall plaza, but rather why the issue is not being advanced.
The discussion ended after more than two hours.
The Chief Rabbinate and the Western Wall Rabbi submitted a strong opinion, stating that the court has no authority to intervene in the management of the site, which is defined as a synagogue where only halachic laws apply.
The lawyer representing the Chief Rabbinate argued that the court has no authority to intervene in the matter: "The court has no authority to discuss this issue of prayer orders, just as the court will not rule on removing shoes in a mosque. All of these issues are extraterritorial, the court cannot rule.".
He added: "We have 16 million people who come every year, and there are 20 women here who are asking for something different. It cannot be that on the one hand the court has no authority to hear cases, and on the other hand it is giving contradictory instructions to the municipality.".
The lawyer for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation attacked the Women of the Western Wall provocation: "We don't have two sides of the barricade, the Women of the Western Wall insist on entering the women's wing, where there are the most women who disagree with their way of worship. This is a bomb barrel that will explode, no matter how much we try to stop it.".
Amit agreed with his words: "The Western Wall is not a place for a demonstration arena.".
According to the lawyer, "The southern plaza is active, other movements use it. There is an alternative. If there is such an alternative, and the court also said in previous hearings, anyone who does not want to pray according to local custom should be respectful and go to the southern plaza, which is active.".
He added that despite the possibility for the women of the provocation to pray in the southern plaza, they enter to pray intentionally with Torah scrolls with the help of the original women.
The Western Wall Yeshiva's attorney also argued that the court has no authority to discuss the matter, and attacked the judges' decision not to discuss the mixed prayer but rather how the prayer will be held: "The issue here is freedom of worship, therefore all the honorable ones are sitting to my left (the Reformers), and petitioners as petitioners, and petitioners as petitioners.
""The issue is what is the correct, possible, and appropriate way of worship in the holy place, which is the Western Wall and its expanse. That is the discussion. And on this discussion, your honor is skipping and suggesting that we discuss the matter of the planks, which we do not disdain. I think, your honor, that it is impossible for your honor to give even interim decisions in this case, without the issue of authority being decided.".
Channel 14 noted that the discussion is in fact a direct continuation of the events of the month of Shevat 5776. Exactly ten years ago, the government made a dramatic decision to adopt the 'Western Wall Outline' – a plan intended to fundamentally change the character of the Western Wall.
Even then, public opposition was not slow in coming. Understanding that the battle for the sanctity of the Western Wall would not be decided solely by legal debates but by presence on the ground, Torah authorities and organizations such as the "Liv Center" began organizing mass prayers. The beginning of the month and Chol HaMoed became demonstrations of strength by Western Wall loyalists, who made it clear that the public was not willing to sell Israel's holiest sites in exchange for political silence.
Public pressure took its toll, and after a year and a half of informational and political struggle, the government announced the freezing of the outline – a move that was seen as a major victory for maintaining the status quo.
Despite the freeze, the struggle has not stopped for a moment. Every Rosh Chodesh, groups of women come to the Western Wall Square to carry out their deliberate provocation, designed to generate headlines and pressure on the justice system.
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