For the first time, the rabbi of the Kosel and holy site, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, permits the Women of the Wall (WoW) to go directly to the stones of the Kosel. This is the Ministry of Justice’s response to Women of the Wall, which was revealed for the first time on Wednesday, 2 Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan, in which the state informs women that they will receive direct access to the stones of the Kosel.

The letter, which responds to the women’s complaints about the violence employed by the police on Rosh Chodesh Elul, specifies to the Ministry of Justice the modus operandi employed to maintain order in place, and allow women to act as they wish. “From time to time, in accordance with the circumstances and in the complex reality that exists, to examine the necessary arrangements in order to enable every person to exercise the freedom of worship in the Kosel Plaza, as decided by the court,” the letter states.

In addition, they are guaranteed expanded direct access to the stones of the Kosel in line with the agreement reached with Rabbi Rabinowitz.

“It will be correct to expand the prayer compound for the time being in a manner that will allow the Women of the Wall to pray in their own way and will enable effective protection of the worshipers and prevent disturbances by other worshipers as well as physical harm … The prayer compound will be located next to the Mughrabi Bridge, in the area adjacent to the women’s section, when the compound itself will be wider than that which has been fixed to date, a little close to the Kosel stones and direct access to the Kosel stones.”

Betzalel Zini, who heads the Joint Council to Protect Holy Sites responded: “It is shocking to see how the Justice Ministry bends to a handful of women whose purpose is to create a provocation, instead of explaining to them that in a holy place one must act according to the custom of the place, according to the position of the Chief Rabbinate. The Justice Ministry, with the consent of Rabbi Rabinowitz, choose to look for any possibility of coming towards the women and harming the sanctity of the Kosel, the women who daven there and the public order there.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)