Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon gave preliminary approval to a bill amending the Protection of Holy Places Law and imposing a prison sentence on those convicted of desecrating religious sites.
The bill, introduced by Avi Maoz (Noam Party) classifies any failure to comply with rulings of the Chief Rabbinate, including at the Western Wall, as a “desecration,” punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The measure passed 56-47 after coalition whip Ofir Katz (Likud Party) gave coalition members permission to vote according to their own conscience, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
The legislation will now be forwarded to a Knesset committee for consideration ahead of three additional votes in the plenary hall.
The Orthodox Shas Party said after the bill passed: “We have now approved the law to preserve the sanctity of the Western Wall—against attempts to demean and violate rules of the site that were observed for generations.”
The ultra-Orthodox faction said, “Like a fortified wall, Shas will keep defending the Jewish people’s holiest site, and prevent the Reform movement from subverting and desecrating the sacred traditions.”
Acting Israeli Minister of Religious Services Yariv Levin, who also serves as the Jewish state’s justice minister, said that he had the “privilege” of voting in favor, adding: “I congratulate the Knesset on its approval.”
“The Knesset said to the High Court of Justice—enough is enough! I call for completing the legislation in order to put an end to the High Court of Justice’s intervention in the Western Wall’s management,” Levin stated.
Maoz’s submitted his proposal to the Knesset in the wake of a ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ordering the government to allow a mixed-gender prayer space at the Western Wall.
The Feb. 19 decision ordered the government to update the court within 90 days regarding the progress of reopening the Ezrat Yisrael egalitarian prayer section, which has been closed since 2018, when a large stone dislodged from the Western Wall, narrowly missing a worshiper.
Earlier this week, amid anger from Diaspora Jews, including the Reform movement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation that was set to consider the government’s official position on Maoz’s proposed legislation.
Gilad Kariv, a lawmaker for the far-left The Democrats Party, slammed the proposed law, which he said “turns anyone who does not obey the Chief Rabbinate into a criminal who should be thrown in jail.”
“This is not a law against Reform Jews ... It is a law against any Jew who is not Haredi,” Kariv declared, vowing to “fight this extremist law with all our strength, together with the majority of the secular and traditional [masorti] Israeli public, as well as with the majority of world Jewry.”
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the First and Second Temples stood, is the holiest site in Judaism. The Western Wall is a remnant of the retaining wall encircling the Mount built by Herod the Great in the first century. The Wall is currently the holiest site where Jews can pray freely.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has opposed mixed-gender worship at the Western Wall, arguing the site should be administered in accordance with Orthodox Jewish law and longstanding religious customs.
