It would determine what is considered to be \u201cdesecration\u201d at Jewish holy sites based on the rulings of the Chief Rabbinate.<\/p>\n
A general view of Jerusalem’s Old City shows the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, in the foreground as the Dome of the Rock, located on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, is seen in the background. (credit: REUTERS\/AMMAR AWAD)<\/p>\n
It further proposes that the Chief Rabbinate<\/a> be considered representatives of Judaism that the Religious Affairs Ministry consult regarding the enactment of regulations.<\/p>\n The bill is an amendment to the existing law concerning the holy site called the Protection of Holy Places Law. \u00a0Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not allow the amendment bill to receive backing in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, canceling the Sunday meeting at the last minute to reportedly avoid a crisis with Diaspora Jewry.<\/p>\n However, the private bill underwent a free vote in the Knesset, where it received enough support to progress.<\/p>\n The law was originally enacted in 1967, following the Six-Day War, and Maoz claims his amendment will remove existing ambiguity within it by explicitly establishing that only the Chief Rabbinate can determine regulations.<\/p>\n Bill will undermine religious pluralism, freedom of worship, progressive groups warn<\/p>\n Progressive Jewish groups have strongly condemned the bill, warning that it would significantly undermine religious pluralism and freedom of worship at the holy site.<\/p>\n Critics also say it would essentially undermine the ruling of the High Court.<\/p>\n The High Court had ruled on Thursday to complete the necessary bureaucratic steps required to restore and upgrade the Ezrat Yisrael plaza, the southern prayer area designated for mixed-gender and non-Orthodox worship under the government-backed 2016 so-called \u201cKotel Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n Pluralism advocates welcomed the High Court decision as a significant step toward restoring physical access to the egalitarian section, while religious authorities and ultra-Orthodox political leaders sharply criticized the court\u2019s intervention, arguing that matters concerning prayer arrangements at the Wall fell outside its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n