Letter English

    To:

    Minister of Public Security, Mr. Gilad Erdan
    Acting Chief of Police - Commissioner Moti Cohen
    Deputy Attorney General, Ms. Dina Zilber

    Request for Investigation on the Issue of Violence Toward WOW
    on Rosh Hodesh Adar II 2019

    I am participating in WOW’s call for a comprehensive investigation regarding the Police’s abandonment of their duties to protect worshippers’ safety in all matters surrounding the prayer service on Rosh Hodesh Adar II at the Western Wall, marking WOW’s 30th anniversary; this includes the police’s lack of preparedness in anticipating the event, their behavior during the service itself, and their public messaging after the event.

    On March 8, 2019, worshippers associated with Women of the Wall arrived to the women’s section of the Western Wall to hold a Rosh Hodesh Adar II prayer service, and to mark thirty years of the organization’s activism.

    In the course of the month preceding the prayer service, Women of the Wall turned to the police and notified them that the expected number of attendees exceeded the usual size (approx. 1000), given the context of the special event. Women of the Wall warned the police specifically about publicized calls from ultra-Orthodox rabbis urging young religious students to arrive en masse in order to disrupt WOW’s service. To the group’s great dismay, despite these appeals to the police, the Rosh Hodesh Adar II prayer service was a demonstration of assault against Women of the Wall and the women who joined to support their prayer. In the course of the service, Women of the Wall were exposed to harsh physical and verbal violence, whilst experiencing attacks on their rights to ritual expression, and all of this constitutes great degradation and disgrace upon the site of the Kotel.

    In the course of the service, police officers abandoned them to the mercies of the aggressive bullies who tried at any cost to block the group’s right to prayer freely in their way, a right which Judge Sobel (23834-04-13) stood by, establishing that Women of the Wall’s prayer service does not contradict the local custom and therefore does not constitute a legal transgression.

    This violence and disruption led to the first time in thirty years, due to serious concerns for their lives, Women of the Wall were forced to stop their service and continue it outside the women’s section of the Kotel.

    This conduct by the police stands in absolute and total opposition to its obligation to secure the well-being of Women of the Wall, and constitutes negligence from its duties to protect their right to pray according to their customs at the Western Wall.

    The state of the matter was made clear to the police in advance of the event at which Women of the Wall would arrive for their Rosh Hodesh prayer service in large groups, alongside students from religious schools who too would arrive by the thousands; and in particular, in light of the fact that for a long period Women of the Wall have witnessed a dangerous escalation of harassment and assaults toward them when they arrive monthly to pray at the Western Wall - it was incumbent on the police to employ all means at their disposal in order to protect Women of the Wall and their right to pray according to their customs at the holy site. However, this did not occur, and thus constitutes a severe failure on the part of the police.

    Under these circumstances, I request that a thorough and comprehensive investigation be conducted regarding the police’s conduct in all matters surrounding the Rosh Hodesh Adar II prayer service held by Women of the Wall; this includes the police’s lack of preparedness in anticipating the event, their behavior during the service itself, and their public messaging distributed to media outlets following the violent assaults at the event.

    Undersigned:

    Skip to content