Following increasing pressure from chareidi and religious elected officials in addition to the outcry from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and gedolei yisrael, a new committee is being formed to reconsider the arrangement for the egalitarian prayer area near the Kosel.

According to a Chanel 2 report, representatives to this new committee will include Ariel Atias as the representative of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita, Aryeh Dvir as the representative of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Dovid Lau Shlita and Rav of the Kosel & Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz Shlita.

Earlier this week, a planned meeting between the Chief Rabbis and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was cancelled by the Prime Minister. This meeting was to permit the rabbis to explain their objections to the cabinet decision allocating the prayer area that permits men and women to daven together without a mechitzah as well as women putting on tallis and tefilin and laining from a Sefer Torah.

Since that cabinet decision it has been explained to PM Netanyahu that the decision is not legally binding until the Minister of Religious Services signs off on it and for now, Minister David Atias is not planning to. In fact, Rabbi David Yosef Shlita has instructed Atias not to, releasing a psak halacha prohibiting him from approving the cabinet decision. The PM is also facing strong opposition from the Chief Rabbis as well as from chareidi and dati leumi coalition parties. This seems to have compelled him to agree to the formation of a second committee.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)