Non-Orthodox Jews from the Conservative and Reform movements held a mixed gender 'egalitarian' service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem today, amid jeers from other worshippers and a ban on prayer by the protesters from Israel's Attorney General.
Reports in the Israeli media said that around ten Ultra-Orthodox Jews heckled the worshippers at the Old City's Western Wall, which is the holiest site for Jews on earth.
However, Yuli Goren of the Israel Religious Action Center told the Times of Israel: "We've seen much worse...We sang songs of prayer, said words of Torah. We respected the attorney general's order, and we didn't pray."
Refraining from prayer was a request from the Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, in defiance of whom the protest was taking place, according to Haaretz.
"We will not rest until the Western Wall is restored to the Jewish people," Yizhar Hess, director-general of the Israeli Conservative Movement, told Haaretz. "The absurdity is that it's the current Israeli government that opposes a most Zionist step. I call on the prime minister to show leadership and implement the Western Wall compromise immediately".
The site has for decades been exclusively for Orthodox Jews to worship, though there is a section for tourists. However, there have been efforts in recent years to make it more pluralistic, with a group called 'Women of the Wall' holding regular protests.
Women of the Wall held their own protest today and protesters claimed that Orthodox worshippers shouted "get out" at them.
The Western Wall's prayer areas are divided for men and women.
Reform and Conservative movements have become dismayed in recent months by resistance from the government over a plan to create a separate prayer space for them at the southern expanse of the Western Wall, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu under growing pressure from Ultra-Orthodox Jews to withdraw from the agreement.
