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Comments (0)Jerusalem police arrested a woman praying at the Western Wall for wearing a tallit.
The woman, who was participating in Rosh Chodesh services, was arrested Wednesday based on an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that the public must dress according to the customs of the site, Israel Radio reported.
Police came to the site after the Women of the Wall group asked to read from a Torah scroll, according to reports. The group usually holds its services at Robinson’s Arch, located near the Wall.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the Western Wall rabbi, called the group’s actions Wednesday “an act of provocation that seeks to turn the Western Wall into disputed territory,” according to reports.
The chairwoman of the women’s group, Anat Hoffman, said it was the first time that a woman has been arrested at the Western Wall for donning a tallit. She identified the arrested woman as Nofrat Frenkel, a medical student from Beersheba.
Intel Proposes Non-Jewish Sabbath Workers
Intel has proposed that it will only employ non-Jewish workers on Saturday at its Jerusalem plant, Israeli media are reporting.
The move comes after more than 2,000 fervently Orthodox Jews protested the plant last Saturday, attacking journalists and the city’s haredi vice mayor.
According to the proposal, only 60 employees, all non-Jewish, will work on Saturday in three shifts, Ha’aretz reported. The new non-Jewish workers already have begun training and the company also will recruit fervently Orthodox employees, according to the newspaper.
The proposal reportedly was presented Wednesday to Uri Maklev, the leader of the fervently Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, during a meeting led by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.
Intel did not comment on reports about the proposal.
Livni: Israelis Agree That Gilo Is Theirs
There is ‘Israeli consensus’ that the eastern Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood of Gilo belongs to Israel, opposition leader Tzipi Livni said.
“Beyond dealing with the immediate issue, this understanding is important for all discussions about permanent borders,” Livni, head of the center Kadima Party, told French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in a meeting Wednesday in Jerusalem.
Kouchner, who is on a three-day mission to the region, condemned the Jerusalem municipality’s approval for the construction of 900 new apartments abutting the Gilo neighborhood, which would expand the borders of the Jerusalem community. He also called for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks.
Also Wednesday, Kouchner met with the parents of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit amid rumors that he will be released in a prisoner exchange next week. Shalit holds dual Israeli and French citizenship.
Kouchner was scheduled to meet Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
On Tuesday he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat.