In an indication that the coalition fears that the Kosel Compromise Plan may shatter the government, Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana made comments on Motzei Shabbos that seem to retract his support for the plan.

“The vast majority of Jews in Eretz Yisrael are Orthodox Jews,” Kahana said in an interview with Kan News. “I don’t think that we need to allow other streams to run the Kosel. We can reach an agreement without ceding control of the Kosel to a fringe group.”

Reform Rabbi MK Gilad Kariv (Labor) responded angrily to Kahana’s words, saying: “The time has come that Kahana stop acting in accordance with the incitement of the Chareidi parties, Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir, but in accordance with the spirit of the government and its basic agreements. The Kosel Plan is a compromise plan that was previously supported by Prime Minister Bennett and it should be implemented quickly.”

However, Bennett apparently realizes that the implementation of the Kosel Compromise Plan could bring down his government, and he, like Kariv, places the blame on Chareidim and other religious groups. In a statement last week, he wrote that “the Kosel is being used for a planned political campaign, for which much money was raised, with the goal of dismantling the government. Maybe it will catch on but the damage will be tremendous.”

Several days later, a member of Bennett’s coalition, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin, (New Hope) said that he is opposed to the Kosel Compromise Plan, explaining that the Kosel must remain under the supervision of the State and the Jewish Agency.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) has also expressed opposition to the plan. During her recent trip to the US, she met with representatives of the American Zionist Movement and the Association of Reform Zionists of America. When asked for her opinion of the Kosel Plan, Shaded responded that she is adamantly opposed to changing the status quo at the site.

“The Kosel must remain as it is – it’s the most kodesh place for Jews and that’s how it should remain,” she said, adding that “those who want to behave in a way not in accordance with the accepted tradition at the site should get used to the situation.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)