Western Wall

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Vice president of China lands in Israel, heads straight to Western Wall in Jerusalem
23.10.2018
As part of a four-day visit emphasizing talks on economic cooperation, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan joined Israeli officials for a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, despite official Chinese policy not recognizing Jerusalem’s Old City as part of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan to the Jewish state on Oct. 22, 2018. Credit: GPO/Kobi Gideon.
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Why Israelis aren’t as worked up about the Western Wall as Diaspora Jews
Josh Hasten01.08.2018
The Israeli public as a whole has been substantially less committed to—in fact, downright unenthusiastic about—changing the status quo.
Jewish worshippers cover themselves with prayer shawls as they pray in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, during the Cohen Benediction priestly blessing at the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Oct. 8, 2017. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
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Israel Hayom
Nadav Shragai30.07.2018
Reinforce both the wall and our sovereignty
Israel is the sovereign entity in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount—not the waqf and not Jordan.
Nadav Shragai (Wikipedia)
Featured column
Jonathan S. Tobin27.07.2018
When a rock falls in a plaza . . .
The Kotel rock was a case of a stone meeting gravity. But it was also used as an excuse for Jewish score-settling while allowing the Palestinians to explain again why peace is not in sight.
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Antiquities Authority experts to determine fate of dislodged rock from Western Wall
26.07.2018
Archeologists and engineers from the Israel Antiquities Authority arrived on Wednesday to figure out what to do with the 2,000-year-old rock.
Workers remove by crane a large chunk of stone dislodged from the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City at the mixed-gender prayer section on July 25, 2018. Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90.
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220-pound stone falls out of the Western Wall, narrowly missing a woman at prayer
23.07.2018
The breakage comes just a day after the Western Wall plaza was filled with worshippers marking Tisha B’Av—a day of fasting and mourning the destruction of the two holy Jewish temples at the site.
A Jewish man observes the site where a large chunk of stone dislodged from the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City at the mixed-gender prayer section on July 23, 2016. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
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Jewish tensions heat up over Western Wall prayer space
Eric Berger13.07.2018
Leaders of the Conservative and Reform Jewish movements fear that the actions of Israeli politicians in recent weeks may contribute to a widening gap between Israel and Diaspora Jews.
Members of the Reform movement and Hebrew Union College confront police and security guards while trying to enter a mixed men and women prayer area at the public square in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, Nov. 16, 2017.
Featured column
Jonathan S. Tobin03.07.2018
Heed the lessons of Natan Sharansky
The hero of the struggle for Soviet Jewry’s efforts to foster unity were snubbed by Israel’s government while he was head of the Jewish Agency, but Israelis and American Jews should still be listening to him.
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Last-ditch efforts may salvage plan for mixed prayer at Western Wall
Ariel Kahana, Mati Tuchfeld and StaffIsrael Hayom02.07.2018
Ministers vote by phone late Sunday night on new members for Ministerial Committee on Holy Places, with aim of creating an egalitarian prayer space at the holy site • Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz replaces Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on the committee.
Jewish worshippers pack the area in front of Jerusalem’s Western Wall for the "Birkat Kohanim," or "Priestly Blessing," during the holiday of Sukkot on Oct. 8, 2017. Credit: Yaakov Lederman/Flash90.
Featured column
Jonathan S. Tobin24.05.2018
One Jewish people, two dissonant tribes
A new survey of Israeli Jews shows strong feelings of solidarity with the Diaspora, but little interest in listening to the views of American Jews. It should cause soul-searching in both communities.
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Shraga Bar-On27.03.2018
How (and why) Israel must bridge its gap with American Jewry
The two Jewish centers must fully recognize one another. Just as American Jews become more loyal to their Americanness when they are also Zionist, so must Israelis espouse the notion that they can be more Jewish and more Zionist if they grant full recognition to American Judaism.
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Permits requested to expand egalitarian prayer section at Jerusalem’s Western Wall
01.03.2018
The goal is to expand the size of the area in accordance with original plans laid out in a January 2016 Western Wall resolution.
The Western Wall in Jerusalem. Credit: Golasso via Wikimedia Commons.
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Pence concludes Israel trip with ‘inspiring’ Western Wall visit
23.01.2018
Pence concludes his visit by praying at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits the Western Wall. Credit: Vice President Mike Pence official Twitter page.
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Groups petition Israeli High Court for expanded Western Wall egalitarian prayer section
17.01.2018
The Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, and the Women of the Wall prayer rights group brought a petition to Israel’s High Court of Justice.
The Western Wall plaza. Credit: Larisa Sklar Giller via Wikimedia Commons.
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