Foreign Minister Yair Lapid denounces a group of far-right Orthodox activists who overran the pluralistic prayer pavilion at the Western Wall, where the Conservative Movement was holding prayers for the Tisha B’Av fast.
“On the day we commemorate the destruction of the Temple, a group of extremists decided to desecrate the holiness of the day and the holiness of the place and start a violent struggle at the Kotel,” Lapid tweets, using the Hebrew name for the Western Wall. “That’s the baseless hatred that led to the destruction of the Temple and our exile.”
He adds: “We won’t let them destroy the Kotel, destroy Israeli society or destroy our relations with the Jewish world. The Kotel belongs to every stream of Judaism and it will be a place where every Jew feels at home.”
New President Isaac Herzog also weighs in.
“I was very saddened by what happened yesterday at the Western Wall,” Herzog says during an event at his official residence.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
