Police to probe removal of Obama's note
State orders police to investigate scandalous extraction of US presidential candidate's private note from cracks of Western Wall, says probe necessary to prevent defilement of holy site
Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan ordered the police on Thursday to launch an investigation into the events surrounding the publication of US Senator Barack Obama's private note of prayer, which he placed in the Western Wall in Jerusalem during his visit to Israel in June.
The note written by the Democratic presidential candidate was extracted from the wall by a yeshiva student and published the following day by Israeli daily 'Maariv.'
A complaint filed with the prosecution claimed that the note's removal and subsequent publishing violated Obama's right of privacy as well as the laws pertaining to religious sites.
The complaint also asserted that the custom of placing notes between the stones of the Western Wall has long become symbolic of the site, and that this practice was threatened by the youth's actions, as worshipper's may now fear for their privacy.
Refraining from taking legal action against those responsible for publishing Senator Obama's note, said Nitzan, "could give birth to an undesired phenomenon, one which would turn the Western Wall into an endless source of celebrity gossip from Israel and the world."
He added that after examining the complaint he concluded that an investigation should be forthcoming, in order to maintain privacy laws and laws protecting holy sites. The probe would best serve the public's interest, he said.
Several days after the contents of Obama's note were published, the chief rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, sent a letter to the Democratic candidate in which he expressed his deep regret over the incident.
The yeshiva student who removed the note also apologized, and even returned the note to its former location with the rabbi's help.
'Incident shames us all'
Rabbi Rabinowitz commented on the affair and told Ynet, "I believe that the removal of the note was a prank committed by someone who did not think the matter through and later regretted his actions. The publication of the note is also regrettable. Something must be done about this, and the matter is in the hands of the authorities."
Rabinowitz explained that the contents of a note placed in the Western Wall are between a man and his maker, and no one else should be able to read it. "I never imagined something like this would happen. It's a holy site, not a public place. This has shamed us all," he said.
The rabbi dubbed the removal of the note "a desecration of the Lord and the site", and promised to attempt to prevent future incidents of this kind. "We have learned our lesson in order to prevent similar occurrences," he said. "We may move notes in the future so another exposure will not take place."
