The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry has expressed its profound unease about a Bill before the Knesset that would place prayer arrange­ments at the Kotel (Western Wall) under the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, and risk undoing the com­prom­ise arrange­ments that have been in effect since they were intro­duced in 2016.

ECAJ President Daniel Aghion stated, “The Kotel is not only a site of the utmost religious sig­ni­fic­ance for Judaism.  It is a priceless part of the civil­isa­tion­al heritage and patrimony of the Jewish people as a whole. It is a tangible testament to our national history as a living people in the Land of Israel over the millennia. It therefore belongs to all Jews, whichever stream of Judaism we follow, and also to those of us who are not religious.”

“At a time when Israel and its right to enjoy full sov­er­eignty are under unpre­ced­en­ted attack, mil­it­ar­ily, polit­ic­ally and dip­lo­mat­ic­ally, and when the Jewish people are facing a massive resur­gence of antisemitism worldwide, it has never been more important for us to maintain internal unity and cohesion.”

“The 2016 Kotel com­prom­ise was a carefully con­struc­ted arrange­ment that has suc­cess­fully accom­mod­ated the beliefs, tra­di­tions and sens­it­iv­it­ies of all concerned. It respects the majority Orthodox position in Israel with regard to the main prayer plaza while respect­fully main­tain­ing an inclusive egal­it­ari­an prayer space nearby. This is the proper spirit in which to approach such matters.”

“It is bad enough that Jewish people in the diaspora are being mar­gin­al­ised and excluded from different areas of public life, as we have heard so elo­quently from members of the Aus­trali­an Jewish community in recent days at the Royal Com­mis­sion into Antisemitism and Social Inclusion.  No part of the Jewish people should ever be at risk of such treatment in Israel, our common homeland.”