Kotel
KotelKobi Finkler

The “Regulation Act,” as proposed by Shas, would regulate the status of the Kotel, making it a “holy area,” subject to the jurisdiction of the Rabbinical Courts and the Chief Rabbinate.

According to the new law’s proponents, the judicial status of the Kotel has yet to be clearly regulated by law, and this has led to attempts by various organizations to undermine its halakhic status, causing severe conflicts.

The proposed bill is intended to legally establish the Kotel’s halakhic status.

The bill states that “the protection of holy sites was regulated by law in 1981. However, until today, 50 years after the liberation of the Kotel, there is still no specific regulation protecting the special holiness of the Kotel. This proposed law would regulate the arrangement of prayer services in Kotel plaza and preserve the sacred status of the area.”

The bill specifies in detail the actions that would be forbidden in the area, including desecration of Shabbat, and it would legally require a partition between men and women.

The bill also aims to protect the dignity of worshippers by prohibiting religious ceremonies which offend local custom and the sensitivities of other worshippers. This would include women reading Torah, blowing shofar, and wearing tallit and tefilin.

The Minister for Religious Affairs would be responsible for the implementation of the law and would be entitled to enact other regulations concerning its implementation.

The Shas MKs who initiated the law stated that “the law is essential to establish order at the holiest place for the Jewish people and to regulate its halakhic status. It cannot be that the place from which the Divine Presence has not moved and after which the Jewish people have longed these many generations should be the site of humiliating conflicts. We have no doubt that this bill faithfully reflects the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public and will return the Wall to its proper holy and honored status.”