Sharansky: Construction of new Kotel site may begin within a month

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Natan Sharansky said the implementation of his plan to expand the non-Orthodox prayer site at the Western Wall could begin in as little as one month.

In an interview April 11 with JTA, Sharansky sounded cautiously optimistic about his proposal to create an egalitarian space equal in size to the current men’s and women’s sections combined.

The Jewish Agency for Israel chairman was charged last year with finding a solution to mounting tensions over women’s prayer at the Western Wall.

After three months of consultations with a wide spectrum of Israeli and American Jewish leaders, Sharansky unveiled the proposal April 9 in New York. Now back in Israel, he will present the plan to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He hopes his solution—to improve an already existing egalitarian space in an archeological park known as Robinson’s Arch—could be implemented within one to two months.

“This issue will keep haunting us all the time as long as there is no basic agreement,” Sharansky told JTA in his Jerusalem office. “There must be an opportunity for every Jew in the world to pray at the Wall in the manner he or she wants without interfering with the prayers of others. I believe it is possible to reach a very broad consensus.”

The plan calls for the Robinson’s Arch area, currently excavated many feet below ground by archeologists, to be raised to the level of the current Western Wall plaza. The two sections would share an entrance.

Sharansky told JTA that the Mughrabi Bridge to the Temple Mount, which now separates Robinson’s Arch from the main plaza, would remain intact.

Accommodating non-Orthodox groups while the plan advances remains a pressing question, and Sharansky was vague about how to address it. He said a permanent agreement would “decrease tension.”

Tensions rose again the morning of April 11when five women were arrested by police for wearing prayer shawls at the Western Wall, which contravenes Israeli law requiring respect for “local custom” there.

According to a statement from Women of the Wall, an advocacy group that has pressed for women’s equality at the Wall, a Jerusalem judge subsequently ruled that there were no grounds for the arrest and that women’s prayer does not disturb public order. 

Under Sharansky’s plan, women would be allowed to wear prayer shawls at Robinson’s Arch.

“In the absence of an agreement we’ll have this morning every month, no doubt,” Sharansky said.

Netanyahu must convene a forum to formally approve the plan before a “specialized group of professionals” conducts negotiations featuring the relevant parties, including the Western Wall’s rabbi, Shmuel Rabinowitz, and Israeli Conservative and Reform leaders. After that, a timeline would be established for construction and an interim solution found for non-Orthodox worshipers. Only then will the space be dedicated and construction begin.

“Only one week ago, I was told [there was] no chance I’ll get an agreement from different sides to discuss seriously this option,” Sharansky said. “As you can see, all the sides expressed their reservations, but everyone understands that the dangers of not having a solution are much bigger.”

Sharansky acknowledged that the plan could still face myriad hurdles. Even if the process goes smoothly, it could be derailed by archeological concerns at Robinson’s Arch, opposition from the Waqf—the Muslim body that controls the Temple Mount—or a budget shortfall.

“There are so many bureaucratic obstacles and so many organizations that can destroy and undermine” the plan, Sharansky told JTA. “Tomorrow, we’ll find out that archeological authorities have their problems and local authorities have their problem.”

Sharansky said that “not one brick connected to Mughrabi will be touched and not one area under control of the Waqf will be challenged, but I can’t decide for them what to do.”