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Photo: Yaron Brener
Man poses as woman at Kotel: 'Their prayers are heard'
Mentally-ill man wears veil in attempt to dupe security guards, enter women's section of holy Jewish site
Security guards at the Western Wall apprehended on Wednesday a man who dressed up as a woman in an attempt to enter the women's section of the holy Jewish site in Jerusalem's Old City.
During his police interrogation, it became clear that the man was mentally ill and was on psychiatric medication. He was released to his home.
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The guards initially thought the man, who was wearing a veil, was a female member of a radical group nicknamed the "Taliban cult." When they found out he was a man, they asked him to explain his disguise.
The haredi, a family man from Jerusalem, said he arrived at the Kotel to pray for the residents of the south, who are being shelled by terrorists in Gaza. The man said he wanted to pray at the women's section of the holy site because there his prayers would have a better chance of being answered.
About six-months ago a man was arrested at the Kotel for spray-painting pro-Palestinian graffiti on a nearby wall. The 30-year-old man, of Russian descent, yelled "end the occupation" and "fascists!"
