JERUSALEM (AP) – Leaders of U.S. and Israeli liberal Jewish movements rallied for equal prayer rights at a Jerusalem holy site Wednesday, marching past ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters who clashed with them and tried to snatch Torah scrolls out of their arms.
The liberal groups ignored a suggestion by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Reform and Conservative streams not proceed with the public protest.
The heads of the two movements joined the liberal women’s prayer group Women of the Wall in the procession to the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple complex and the holiest site where Jews can pray. Several hundred people participated, holding prayers and demanding that Israel finally implement a government decision to officially establish a mixed-gender prayer area at the site.
“It’s a disgrace! There is no other way to define it,” said a statement from the Union for Reform Judaism. Orthodox Judaism requires men and women to pray separately.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews cursed and pushed the marchers as they carried Torah scrolls to the holy site and into the women’s prayer section, an act that is prohibited at the site. The Western Wall is run by an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who opposes liberal Jewish customs there.