High Court orders Western Wall officials to explain harassment of liberal Jews

The High Court of Justice is giving Western Wall officials 30 days to explain why they are failing to protect non-Orthodox streams of Judaism from harassment at the Jewish holy site in Jerusalem.

The move came in response to a petition filed by the Women of the Wall group that claimed police, the Western Wall rabbi and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation routinely failed to protect female worshipers from “disruptive elements.”

Non-Orthodox female worshipers have long complained of harassment and discrimination by the Orthodox bodies governing the site.

The court order comes months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted to freeze the implementation of a permanent pluralistic prayer section at the Western Wall, which was approved by government ministers in January 2016.

The cabinet’s decision was met with widespread dismay from liberal groups and Diaspora Jews.