Ultra-Orthodox lawmaker: Reform Jews don't believe in Temple

Visitors are seen at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's Old City, Monday. A high-profile group of Jewish leaders cancelled a gala event with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to protest his government's decision to scrap plans for a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.  

JERUSALEM — A senior ultra-Orthodox Israeli lawmaker on Tuesday dismissed the protestations of liberal Jews over alternative access to Jerusalem's Western Wall as provocations, saying they don't even believe in the sanctity of the site.

Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen of the Shas party said worship practices at the site — a retaining wall of the compound where the biblical Jewish temples once stood — have been in place for centuries and not everyone can "come and change the rules."

Leaders

Modal

Sign Up For Newsletters