A small group attended the Priestly Blessing ceremony at the Western Wall on Sunday, amid wartime restrictions that limited gatherings at the site to just 50 people, rather than the typical tens of thousands who usually arrive during the holiday.
The enforced restrictions at the Kotel sparked controversy after the High Court intervened in the dispute over Saturday night’s anti-war protests. The High Court ordered the state to allow demonstrations with significantly larger attendance. The ruling permitted no fewer than 150 participants at three different sites and no fewer than 600 people at Habima Square for the anti-war protests.
The High Court heard a petition on Sunday afternoon on expanding the number of worshippers allowed at the Western Wall during the war after the protests. It was decided late in the evening to increase the number of worshippers able to arrive at the Western Wall Plaza to 100 people.
The decision stated that a higher number could not be permitted because of the Home Front Command warnings.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, rabbi of the Western Wall, subsequently called on the Home Front Command on Sunday to ease restrictions at the Kotel and allow a larger number of worshipers to enter and pray at the site.
Tens of thousands of people usually crowd the Western Wall Plaza during the intermediate days of Passover for the Priestly Blessing. This year, however, the plaza remained mostly empty due to the wartime restrictions, which have also impacted holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple Mount.
“I cannot understand why the right to protest is perceived as more important or more urgent than the right to pray,” Rabinovitch wrote in a letter to the Home Front Command chief. He added that if there is an ability to ease restrictions in other areas, it should also be possible to do so at the Western Wall.
“The Western Wall is the beating heart of the Jewish people. Especially now, as our soldiers are fighting with great courage and facing grave danger, the public needs access to the holiest place we have left since the destruction of the Temple."
“If the security reality allows hundreds of people to gather in public squares for demonstrations, all the more so should public prayer be allowed in the Western Wall plaza, the place to which the eyes of the entire Jewish world are fixed.”
He noted that the Kotel includes protected spaces, providing further reason to ease the limitations on the number of people allowed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the High Court's ruling, calling it "unbelievable."
"While Jews are restricted during the holiday from praying at the Western Wall, the High Court of Justice has approved a left-wing demonstration in Tel Aviv," he stated, adding, "Freedom of protest is important, but freedom of prayer is no less important."
Rabbi David Yosef, the serving Sephardi chief rabbi had slammed the High Court calling it the "enemy of Judaism.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the High Court’s decision “problematic and incorrect” on Sunday while presenting the position of the National Security Ministry. He said there could not be a double standard, arguing that if anti-war protests were permitted with eased restrictions, the same should apply to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.
“We call on the public to act responsibly, not to endanger security forces, and to refrain from attending protests or going to the Wall or the Mount,” he stated.
“However, from the moment the High Court approved the protests at Habima Square, we cannot apply one standard to the square and a different standard to the Mount. It is impossible to discriminate against such a large public.
“Therefore, the High Court must also allow the possibility of ascending to both the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in small groups,” he added.
High Court hears petition to expand number of worshipers at Western Wall
The High Court of Justice heard a petition on Sunday afternoon on expanding the number of worshipers allowed at the Western Wall during the war. The petition was filed a day after the court intervened in the dispute over Saturday night’s anti-war protests.
Ben-Gvir arrived at the High Court on Sunday to present his stance. MK Ahmad Tibi of the secular Arab Hadash-Ta’al Party also sharply criticized the High Court’s allowance of large anti-war protests while attendance has been limited at holy sites.
He called for the immediate opening of the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for worship.
“The High Court’s decision allowing demonstrations of up to 600 people, alongside mass Purim celebrations that passed without interference, exposes the truth: there is no safety justification for the restrictions at al-Aqsa; this is a blatant violation of freedom of worship,” he said.
“The police are acting forcefully against worshipers at Herod’s Gate and at the entrances to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is selective enforcement driven by political motives,” he added.
Last week, Israel Police prevented Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after traditional Palm Sunday celebrations were canceled due to Home Front Command wartime restrictions, drawing fierce international condemnation.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.