The government will vote today on transferring authority from Holy Places Committee Chairwoman Miri Regev after she objected to the Western Wall plan 's approval in a way that would allow the Reform movement to change current Western Wall custom. Culture Minister Regev explained this morning in an interview on Kol Barama radio that "I didn't quit; once the Prime Minister asks me to surrender my powers, of course I can't object to that. "I consulted with many officials and learned the material quite well. In my opinion, if the State of Israel has one holy place, we must protect it," Regev said. "We have to set very clear boundaries to preserve the heritage of Israel and the tradition according to which women pray alone and men on their own, and the Women of the Wall are invited to pray, but in the women's section." She says her losing authority will certainly lead to the plan's approval. "If Religious Affairs Minister David Azoulay votes against, and the Prime Minister and Ayelet Shaked vote for, it'll pass. I spoke to Minister Shaked and she's in favor of the plan." On June 28, Ido ben Porat wrote in Arutz Sheva : "Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev (Likud), who heads the Committee for Holy Sites, refused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's request to enlarge the mixed prayer section at the Western Wall. "'I decided to be loyal to my conscience, and therefore I informed the Prime Minister that I do not intend to approve the Western Wall plan by virtue of my authority as head of the Committee for Holy Places,' she continued. "Following Regev's decision and in an attempt to appease the Reform movement, Netanyahu removed her from her post as chair of the committee to approve the work to enlarge the mixed prayer section..." Netanyahu's surrender of Jewish archaeological remains in Temple Mount is not new: In 1996 Netanyahu gave Solomon's Stables to the Arabs, in 2000 Ehud Barak allowed them to destroy Jewish archaeological remains on the Temple Mount.
