In July 2018, a massive stone weighing about 100 kg broke loose from the Western Wall and crashed onto a wooden platform used for egalitarian prayer. It was a miracle that nobody was hurt or killed.
Understandably, the city immediately closed the platform, which provided the only direct access to the Kotel itself for Jews participating in egalitarian prayer services. While the Azarat Yisrael platform remains open for egalitarian prayer in the southern section of the Western Wall, it is located a few meters back from the Wall itself.
The problem is that eight years later, the platform adjacent to the Kotel remains closed. The Israel Antiquities Authority determined as early as 2020, and again in 2021, that the area was safe, yet the government refused to complete the necessary repairs. In February of this year, the High Court of Justice finally intervened, ordering the government and Jerusalem Municipality to advance the work.
Think about that for a moment. Israel, a country that develops some of the world's most sophisticated technology, cannot repair a small wooden platform at the Western Wall.
But this is not really a story about a platform. It is a story about something bigger: the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry, particularly those Jews in the United States who feel increasingly alienated from the Jewish state. And with elections just two weeks away, there is an opportunity for the next government to take three quick steps that could significantly improve that relationship.
These steps will not solve all of the issues, nor will they touch on politics – questions about Gaza or the future of the Palestinian conflict. But they can ease tensions surrounding matters of religion and state that directly affect Jews around the world, the overwhelming majority of whom do not identify as Orthodox.
Whatever their affiliation, these are Jews who should be able to see Israel as their national home, a country that respects their Jewish identity even when their religious practices differ from those of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Unfortunately, as the story of the stone illustrates, this is not the message they receive.
For years, three matters of religion and state have stood at the centre of the tension between Israel and Diaspora Jewry: egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall, proposed changes to the Law of Return and conversion.
None would be particularly difficult for a future government to resolve quickly.
When it comes to prayer at the Kotel, this is something that was already supposed to be behind Israel. In 2016, Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved a historic compromise that would establish a recognised egalitarian prayer area at the southern end of the Wall, with its own representative governing body and improved access. It was not a perfect agreement, and both sides made compromises, but it was a remarkable achievement because it recognised that the Western Wall belongs to the entire Jewish people, not exclusively to one religious denomination.
A year and a half later, though, under pressure from his strictly Orthodox coalition partners, Netanyahu's government froze the agreement. Now, a decade later, the consequences remain visible in that wooden platform, still closed to worshippers.
The next government should simply restore the 2016 agreement. It does not need legislation. It just needs to announce that it is implementing what a previous government already approved.
The second issue is the Law of Return. Since 1970, Israeli law has allowed not only Jews to make aliya and receive citizenship, but also their grandchildren. This so-called grandchild clause has been critical in enabling families with Jewish roots, particularly from the former Soviet Union, to move to Israel and establish their lives here.
In recent years, though, this clause has come under fire from religious and right-wing politicians. Their argument is that it encourages descendants of Jews, including children of Jewish fathers but not Jewish mothers, to move to Israel. These Orthodox politicians are concerned about an increase in intermarriage between halachic Jews and those who are not considered Jewish according to Orthodox halacha.
This is particularly important when considering that about 60 per cent of American Jews and 50 per cent of European Jews who married in recent years married non-Jews.
One can be upset about the rate of intermarriage and worry about the future of Jewish continuity, but the children and grandchildren of these families are also the future of world Jewry. Do we really want to send a message that these people, who would have been considered Jewish enough to be murdered by the Nazis under the Nuremberg Laws, are not welcome in the State of Israel?
What makes this issue particularly simple is that the next government does not need to do anything to preserve the existing law. It simply needs to announce that it is shelving earlier proposals to change it.
The third issue is conversion. Over the years, Israel's Supreme Court has recognised Reform and Conservative conversions for eligibility under the Law of Return. This does not mean that the Chief Rabbinate recognises these conversions for religious marriage in Israel, but those who undergo them are able to make aliya.
New legislation promoted by the Religious Zionist Party has sought to change the Law of Return so that only conversions conducted according to Orthodox halacha would qualify for citizenship.
Think about the message this sends to American Jews, where only about 10 per cent identify as Orthodox, or to Jews in the UK, where 30 per cent belong to progressive streams.
Here, too, there is no need to pass a law. All the next government has to do is declare that it rejects such legislation and will preserve the existing recognition of non-Orthodox conversions for immigration purposes.
Three decisions that would send three clear messages to Diaspora Jewry that Israel respects their place in the Jewish people.
Of course, this would not solve everything. Civil marriage and the broader monopoly of the Chief Rabbinate over religious life in Israel will remain complicated questions. The decline in support for Israel among Jews will also continue due to American and European political issues that have nothing to do with the Kotel, conversion or the Law of Return.
Nevertheless, wherever we can ease tensions, we should. Allowing the bond between Israel and the Diaspora to weaken would be an enormous historical mistake.
The next government will have no shortage of challenges. It will need to deal with the aftermath of years of war, Iran, the Palestinians, Israel's diplomatic standing, the economy and the deep divisions within Israeli society. Rebuilding trust with Diaspora Jewry should be part of that agenda, and unlike some of those other challenges, there is a clear roadmap for where to begin.
Yaakov Katz is a co-founder of the MEAD policy forum, a senior fellow at JPPI, and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. His newest book is While Israel Slept
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