Israel's parliament advanced a bill that would grant the Chief Rabbinate authority to determine prayer arrangements at the Western Wall by embedding its rulings in primary legislation. While framed as a technical amendment to the 1967 Protection of Holy Places Law, the proposal would shift decisions over what constitutes desecration at Jewish holy sites from regulatory practice into statute, effectively strengthening Orthodox control over the site.

Although the bill does not explicitly abolish egalitarian prayer at the southern plaza known as Ezrat Yisrael, it would entrench the Chief Rabbinate as the decisive authority over conduct at the Western Wall. Critics argue this could gradually undermine previous efforts to balance the main prayer plaza under Orthodox administration with a separate, accessible space for mixed-gender and non-Orthodox worship, as envisioned in the 2016 compromise that was later frozen.

The move follows a recent High Court ruling ordering the government to implement long-delayed development plans for the egalitarian section, rather than change existing prayer arrangements. Opponents warn that legislating exclusive religious authority over a site regarded by many as a shared national symbol risks deepening divisions within Israeli society and among Jewish communities worldwide, raising broader questions about unity and representation at one of Judaism's most sacred places.