Security guards at the Western Wall seized a Torah scroll that the Women of the Wall group attempted to bring into the plaza on Sunday morning for prayers for Rosh Chodesh Sivan.
"It is ridiculous and outrageous that on the eve of the holiday of the giving of the Torah (Shavuot), the rabbi of the Western Wall desecrates a Torah scroll and denigrates women's prayer and confiscates a Torah scroll whose entire purpose is to allow women to read the Torah at the Western Wall," said the group. "The time has come to release the Western Wall from the hands of the rabbi of the Western Wall and bring equality to women in the holy place as well."
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation responded that the group "provoked provocations in an attempt to turn the Western Wall into a place of controversy, after an exciting weekend of unity with the participation of thousands of visitors and worshipers for the honor of Jerusalem."