Overview
- Israel’s Supreme Court opened a hearing Tuesday led by Justice Yitzchak Amit to consider petitions from Reform groups and Women of the Wall seeking egalitarian services at the main plaza.
- The justices did not decide whether mixed prayer may occur and instead probed why such services are not currently taking place.
- Chief Rabbis Dovid Yosef and Kalman Ber submitted an urgent p’sak stating the plaza holds full beis haknesses status, requiring strict gender separation.
- Representing the Chief Rabbinate, attorney Doron Taubman argued the court lacks jurisdiction over tefilla arrangements, likening it to rulings on removing shoes in a mosque.
- The Rabbinate pointed to the Ezrat Yisrael area at the southern plaza as an existing site for non-traditional prayer, noting the 2016 government plan for an expanded mixed section was later frozen after opposition.