BICOM

The US Ambassador to Israel last night called for unity among all Jewish people following the government’s decision to freeze the plan to formalise a mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall.

Delivering his first public speech in Jerusalem since taking office on 16 May, David Friedman said: “There are people who dedicate their lives to Jewish unity, but unfortunately we are not where we need to be … we have to do better. This is not a question of winning. This is a question of mutual respect and coexistence.”

Saying that the he did not want to speak as the US Ambassador, but rather as a “‎member of the Jewish faith and the son of a rabbi,” Friedman also criticised an unnamed Jewish organisation which he claimed said it needed “to reconsider its support for the State of Israel”.

Yesterday, in an emergency meeting, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky revealed that since Sunday’s decisions on conversion and the Western Wall he has been inundated with calls and emails from American Jews who are considering stopping their donations to Israel to protest the decisions.

Likud Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, who attended the emergency meeting said that the original 2016 Western Wall arrangement was still on the table.

He said: “‎I still think that the [2016] Western Wall arrangement was a good compromise. I think that it is still valid. It is still there, waiting for the dialogue to be resumed, and I hope that it will be implemented soon.”

Hanegbi also reminded the meeting that the Prime Minister has instructed that the expansion and renovation of the egalitarian section of the Wall near Robinson’s Arch, as part of the 2016 compromise, will still be carried out.

According to reports in Yediot Ahronoth, Yesh Atid introduced a bill on Tuesday with the wording of the 2016 cabinet decision, which calls for the establishment of a free and egalitarian prayer space for men and women, for the supervision of the Western Wall plaza to be under representatives of the three streams in Judaism, and for the egalitarian prayer space at Robinson’s Arch to be renovated with entry from the main entrance to the Western Wall plaza.

If a vote is held on the bill, it will challenge coalitional discipline, as Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Likud MK Benny Begin, as well as Kulanu MKs Rachel Azaria and Michael Oren have all expressed their support for the 2016 cabinet decision.