Aliza Mack being searched
Photo: Aliza Mack
Women sue Western Wall rabbi and police over 'shameful' physical searches
Two activists for the Original Women of the Wall are suing the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Israel Police over claims that they were subject to illegal searches over suspicions of smuggling a Torah.
Two women who attempted to pray at the Western Wall are suing the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Israel Police for NIS 100,000 after they were subjected to a physical search before being allowed into the site.
The two women belong to the religious-feminist organization Original Women of the Wall. Kotel security guards and police suspected the two were attempting to illegally smuggle in a Torah. As such, they acted contrary to a High Court of Justice decision prohibiting physical searches.
Physical searches being carried out (Photo: Aliza Mack)
Since 2013, following a decision by the Jerusalem District Court, women are permitted to wrap themselves in prayer shawls and to put on phylacteries. However, the reading of the Torah, which was also approved in principle, is technically prevented, as all Torahs are currently located in the men's section only. Regulations in place at holy places forbid outside religious books from being brought in.
In 2015, the Center for Women's Justice demanded that the regulation be canceled and a petition on the matter is currently pending in the High Court.
Despite several attempts at smuggling Torah scrolls into the complex by women being recorded, the High Court prohibits police or security personnel from carrying out physical searches to prevent the practice.
Attorneys representing the two women claim that their clients were delayed entry into the Western Wall plaza due to "meticulous searches" of their belongings and "unusual and harmful searches" of their bodies—in violation of explicit instructions from the High Court, in a way that caused them "feelings of humiliation, shame and fear."
The Israel Police issued a statement in response, saying, "The statement of claim has not yet been received by police, and upon receiving it, we will respond in court through the State Attorney's Office, as is customary. The police and security company, as well as the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and its organizers, act according to the law and the police are unaware of this complaint."
