Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana (Yamina) on Saturday night called for Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount.
"The Temple Mount is the holiest site to the Jewish nation," Kahana told Kan News. "I was happy to meet with the organizations which are involved with ascending the Temple Mount. I think that it is appropriate to allow Jews to pray on the Mount."
When asked about the Western Wall plan, he said, "The vast majority of Jews in the Land of Israel are Orthodox Jews. I don't think we need to allow other sectors to run the Western Wall. We can reach agreements without allowing a marginalized minority to control the Western Wall."
MK Gilad Kariv (Labor), who chairs the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee and who is a leader of the Reform community, responded: "Minister Matan Kahana forgot that most of the Jews in Israel are not Orthodox, but secular and traditional, and the vast majority support the Western Wall plan and additional compromises on issues of religion and state."
"It's time Minister Kahana stop acting in accordance with the incitement of the haredi parties, [Religious Zionism chief MK Bezalel] Smotrich, and [MK Itamar] Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), but in accordance with the spirit of the government and its founding principles."
"If Minister Kahana is interested in advancing his reforms on issues of religion and state, it would be appropriate for him to be more sensitive to the positions of the rest of the coalition partners on these issues. The Western Wall plan is a plan of compromise, which in the past received the support of Prime Minister [Naftali] Bennett, and it would be appropriate for it to be implemented quickly."