As the sun began to rise over Judaism's holiest site on Thursday morning, men in black suits murmured to themselves as usual. But this morning, many of them were speaking into earpieces as they scanned the small groups of Orthodox Jews and a few tourists impatiently pressed against the blue police barricades.
Senator Barack Obama, originally scheduled to arrive at the Western Wall at 10 p.m Wednesday., finally made his appearance in a motorcade of black SUVs at about 5 a.m.
The crowd at the Wall the previous night had been excited by the prospect of the Democratic frontrunner's imminent scheduled visit and a few Obama banners were in evidence. But he disappointed them, postponing his call at the Wall to the early morning hours - his final piece of Israel business before his departure for Europe.
By 4 a.m., most of those who had gathered were there not to see the 46-year-old would-be leader of the free world, but for morning prayers. So when Obama finally arrived, they generally seemed oblivious to his 10-minute visit. Still, one man did yell at a group of his fellow Jews, admonishing them for having come here for the earthly visit of Obama rather than matters of a higher plane.
Obama looked a little harried and weary - understandably, given the jam-packed itinerary he had followed on Wednesday. He walked across to the site, and spoke for a few minutes to Shmuel Rabinovitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, before placing a small white square of paper between the cracks.
Curious as to what he had written, some onlookers tried to locate the note. One man grabbed a scrap... and was disappointed to discover that it was written in Spanish.
"Nobody knows what was in the note. It's confidential, it's personal," said an official from Rabinovitz's office.
