A violent clash erupted this morning at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem between some 200 members of the Reform and Conservative movements on the one hand and officials with the Western Wall Heritage Fund and Ultra-orthodox worshipers, on the other. The clash erupted after police granted permission to the group of Reform and Conservative worshipers to enter the antient compound with eight Torah Scrolls, which was perceived by the Ultra-orthodox worshipers at the site as violating the regulations for the holy place.
Thus, upon entering the Western wall plaza, the ultra-orthodox worshipers at the scene violently blocked the group of reform and conservative worshipers, despite the large number of police officers who were present. People who took part in the procession, including rabbis and leaders from Conservative and Reform communities in the United States, said that the failure to implement a cabinet decision that would safeguard the freedom of worship to all streams of Judaism had produced a “dramatic worsening of the crisis in relations between diaspora Jewry and the Israeli government.”