Female rabbinical students ‘strip searched’ at Western Wall

Security guards at the entrance to the Western Wall complex in Jerusalem “strip searched” four female rabbinical students ahead of the Women of the Wall’s monthly prayer service at the holy site, according to a local Reform group.

The Israel Religious Action Center says the four Hebrew Union College students were delayed and questioned by guards before being asked to lift up their shirts and skirts.

“This is a new low for the Rabbi of the Kotel trying to intimidate, humiliate, and exclude liberal women trying to pray at the Western Wall. Despite today’s events these four brave Jewish leaders will continue to love Israel, the Wall, and justice,” IRAC director Rabbi Noa Sattath says in a statement.

Sattath says the group will file letters of complain to the attorney general and the Prime Minister’s Office to “demand they act to address the events of this morning,” the statement says.