IDI Scholars Call on Government to Implement Kotel Compromise

By speedily implementing the Kotel compromise, Israel will help prevent new and future conflicts from breaking out at the Western Wall.

Ahead of upcoming deliberations by the High Court on the Kotel compromise, Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) scholars call on the government to urgently implement its own decision on the issue. One year ago this week, the government voted to provide a prayer space for non-Orthodox services in an adjacent designated location, spanning a relatively small area of the Western Wall. The Kotel compromise was reached between representatives of non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and representatives of the ultra-Orthodox sector.

Prof. Yedidia Stern, Vice President of Research, Dr. Shuki Friedman, Director, Center for Religion, Nation and State, and Yair Sheleg, Director of the Religion and State Program, today issued the following joint statement:

“The Kotel compromise presents a proper balance between the will and desire of Orthodox individuals -- who are the majority of those praying at the Western Wall -- to continue praying in the main plaza as they always have, and the will and desire of other Jewish groups that want to pray in the vicinity of the Kotel according to their faith. The Kotel should be a place for which all members of the Nation of Israel can have a deep connection.

“By speedily implementing the Kotel compromise, Israel will help prevent new and future conflicts from breaking out at the Western Wall and stop the deepening rift between the State of Israel and the Jewish world on this issue.”