The Jerusalem District Police have not yet granted approval to the Organization of Community Rabbis to hold holiday prayers on Wednesday at the Southern Wall.
The prayers led by Chief Rabbi of Tzfat Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, are held each year at the Davidson Plaza, also known as the Southern Wall.
The Western Wall is the western part of the retaining wall at the foot of the Temple Mount. The Southern Wall is near it, also part of the retaining wall at the foot of the Temple Mount.
Israel Police have asked the organizers of the festive prayer gathering to hold it in a smaller plaza nearby, which can hold up to around 150 worshipers, instead of the approximately 1,500 worshipers who attend the event each year.
The Organization of Community Rabbis responded, "Israel Police needs to find a way to hold the prayers. We will hold the prayers in any case, because the civilians deserve to live their lives and the job of the police is to protect the rights that they have, and included in this is holding the prayers."
MK Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) said, "The police have fallen on their heads. The police have become confused and think that we are still in exile. Jerusalem police cannot legally forbid Jews from holding prayers, and certainly not because of the reason that it 'angers' the Arabs. The more the police continue acting in this fashion, the more my understanding is that we need to be in the Old City more, to prove our sovereignty on the ground."
Earlier Tuesday, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu led a festive prayer gathering at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'arat Hamachpelah) in Hebron, attended by hundreds of people.
Israel Police responded, "Contrary to what has been claimed, at this very moment we are examining the request, after holding a tour of the area alongside police commanders, and we are preparing for the event to be held."