The Masorti Movement (Conservative Judaism in Israel) has issued a fierce video condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent comments about the cancellation of the Western Wall agreement.The video accused the prime minister of spreading “alternative facts” about the deal when he spoke by video at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations in Los Angeles earlier this month.Netanyahu defended the actions of his government in freezing the agreement of 2016, saying that “ideological elements” of the resolution had been delaying the implementation of physically upgrading the site.Conservative and Reform leaders reacted angrily to this claim at the time, calling it “untruthful” and “disrespectful,” and the Conservative movement has now produced a video for social media countering this claim.“The government canceled the Western Wall agreement, and you tell a story, in English, as if you are implementing its essential elements... as if the issue is only an ‘improvement’ of the existing egalitarian space ‘Ezrat Yisrael’.... Seriously?” asks the video.It then goes on to list the critical elements of the agreement, that there be one shared entrance to the entire Western Wall site, including the egalitarian section; that the egalitarian site be visible from the main plaza; that the progressive Jewish movements have representatives on the committee running the site; that the government finance services there; and that the customs of the site be specifically pluralistic and egalitarian.“Mr. Prime Minister, don’t manipulate the facts!” the video states. “Shame on you, Mr. Prime Minister.”The Prime Minister’s Office has yet to comment on the video.*A previous version of this article stated that the video was issued together with the US Conservative Movement. This is not the case.
