Almost 100 hareidi-religious and modern Orthodox deputy mayors who sought to cross the Jordanian border and visit the Petra tourist site during a conference in Eilat were asked on Tuesday to remove their kippot (skull caps) and tzitziot (ritual fringes).
Some of them did, but most chose to turn on their heels and return to their hotel without crossing the border. Samarian Deputy Mayor Davidi Ben-Zion tweeted that officials were detained at the Jordanian border crossing for an hour and a half because one of them was "caught" wearing the fringes. Member of Knesset Michael Melchiali has demanded that Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz convene an urgent meeting on the matter.