Death Threats Left at Liberal Synagogue in Israel

Death threats left at a liberal synagogue in Israel appear to have been the work of people opposed to mixed prayers at one of Judaism's holiest sites, police said Thursday.

Israeli media broadcast images of a knife left at the synagogue in Ranana, near Tel Aviv, along with envelopes bearing the names of three activists campaigning for women's prayer rights at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. 

They included Anat Hoffman, president of Women of the Wall, which has long campaigned to change the rules at the site.

Men and women must currently pray separately there and women may not lead prayers or handle Torah scrolls.

Israeli television also showed biblically-inspired graffiti scrawled on the walls of the synagogue in Ranana.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and said such acts "have no place in our free society" and police said they had opened an investigation.

Liberal Judaism, a movement that developed in the United States, encourages Jews to modernize by modifying certain traditional rituals.

It supports an equal role for men and women in worship -- something totally rejected by powerful orthodox Rabbis in Israel. 

According to recent polls, fewer than four percent of Israelis say they belong to the movement. 

The Western Wall is controlled by the Orthodox rabbinate.

After a years-long dispute, the government in January decided to create a mixed prayer space at the site. 

However, ultra-Orthodox political parties who form part of Netanyahu's coalition came out strongly against it and the plan has stalled.