As has become customary during Rosh Hodesh prayers at the Western Wall, members of the Reform Women of the Wall (WOW) movement attended their own prayer services, provoking worshippers at the holy site.
While police prepared a secure area for the activists, the instigators went out of their way to confront local worshippers well beyond the area in question, outraging the crowd attending morning prayers.
Director of the Liba Center of the Western Wall, Oren Hanig, who was present at the event, said, "A small group of provocateurs should not be allowed to disrupt thousands of worshipers while using extreme violence toward police and security forces. It is time to enshrine the sanctity of the Western Wall in law and prevent this violent disgrace from taking place every Rosh Hodesh."