Women’s prayer group clashes with Western Wall ushers over alleged smuggling of Torah scroll into compound

Ushers from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation clash with activists from Women of the Wall, a group that supports women’s rights to pray as they wish and that holds monthly services at the gender-segregated holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Foundation says one of its ushers was taken to a hospital after the women allegedly attacked him when he tried to prevent them from using a Torah scroll smuggled in from outside in a baby carrier.

Videos released by both the Foundation and Women of the Wall show an usher sitting against the wall with his head in his hands. In the footage released by the prayer group, a man identifying himself as the usher’s boss accuses one of the women of having elbowed the usher.

Other ushers can be seen trying to grab a bundle — apparently the smuggled Torah scroll — from the hands of one of the women. The clash subsides and the women begin their prayer as several police officers watch them.

עימותים בכותל המערבי בין סדרני הקרן למורשת הכותל לבין נשות הכותל על רקע הכנסת ספר תורה@VeredPelman

(צילום: נשות הכותל) pic.twitter.com/EjfdMxjWJN

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 28, 2025

There are over 100 Torah scrolls in the Western Wall compound, according to the Foundation’s website, but none of them are located in the women’s section, in accordance with Orthodox customs observed by the Foundation.

The prayer group, established in 1988, decries the arrangement. In 2023, it had a minor win when the High Court ruled that security guards in the Western Wall were not permitted to search visitors for Torah scrolls.