Israel's police will be allowed to remove partitions unlawfully brought into the Western Wall egalitarian plaza, it was announced Tuesday.
Ynet has seen a letter sent by the Prime Minister’s Office to the Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, asking it to ban the partitions in the plaza, a mixed-gender prayer pavilion at the holy site.
“Attempts to bring and place partitions in the Western Wall egalitarian plaza should be stopped,” said the letter.
"According to the Justice Ministry, ushers in the Western Wall aren’t authorized to use force to prevent partitions from being brought into the plaza,” but, “when it is needed, the police need to be involved so that the law can be enforced.”
The letter was sent after a number of rows erupted at the plaza after groups of ultra-Orthodox Jews had placed partitions in the square legally to separate men and women, angering the progressive and liberal Jews.
The egalitarian square was approved by the government in 2016, but tensions surrounding the plaza between progressive and ultra-Orthodox religious Jews have not subsided ever since.
The Masorti Movement, a Conservative Judaism religious movement in Israel, said they were happy with the decision. “We see this decision as an important step to make sure the Western Wall remains a safe and communal home to all Jews, no matter who they are.”
They added: “We demand the police keep the right of people to pray in the egalitarian plaza, and to spend their time in peace and without any attempts of groups to sway or disturb what happened in the last few months. The Western Wall belongs to us all.”