By Kaamil Ahmed
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli police have been criticized following allegations that they failed to stop female Jews calling for the reform of prayer rights at Jerusalem’s Western Wall from being intimidated.
Israel’s Women of the Wall Organization, which calls for allowing women to read the Torah at the revered site, along with leaders of other reformist Jewish movements, said they were attacked Wednesday morning by Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth opposed to prayer reform.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the clash at the wall was “unprecedented”, with some rabbis being pushed and punched by security guards who attempted to block their entry into the area.
According to the newspaper, police merely filmed the incident without intervening.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, however, said police had been prepared beforehand, adding that — while a handful of youths had attempted to disturb the event — no arrests had been made.
Reformist rabbis reportedly brought eight Torah scrolls to the site, despite regulations forbidding them to do so.
In a statement issued Tuesday night, the Women of the Wall called their planned visit to the flashpoint site an “act of civil disobedience” aimed at pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the reform of Jewish prayer rights at the site.
“It boggles the mind that Mr. Netanyahu, who decries any international attempt to delegitimize our historic ties to the Western Wall, stands between world Jewry and an equitable arrangement guaranteeing every Jew the right to pray freely,” group leader Anat Hoffman asserted.
Videos posted by the group on Facebook showed crowds of Jewish women celebrating at the Western Wall after succeeding in taking the Torah scrolls to the women’s prayer area.
Jerusalem’s Western Wall is considered the holiest prayer space for Jews, who believe it was once part of an ancient temple built by King Solomon.
