A group from Women of the Wall arrived Wednesday morning at the Western Wall for traditional prayers honoring Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the Jewish month) of Av.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said that the women "turned the Western Wall plaza into a protest site - the likes of which have not been seen in hundreds of years, and acted in violation of the regulations and instructions from the court, when they brought the Torah scroll into the Western Wall plaza."
Foundation officials said they regret "the hostility seen in recent months, which intensified even further this Rosh Chodesh, and call on everyone to stop turning the Western Wall plaza into a protest site. The Western Wall is not a place for whistles and shouting, nor is it a place for provocations or for desecrating its sanctity."
"On Rosh Chodesh Av, which marks the anniversary of the passing of Aaron the High Priest, who loved and pursued peace, we call on everyone to give the Western Wall the proper respect and preserve its sanctity in accordance with Jewish tradition," the Foundation said.
The Women of the Wall claimed that "male and female rioters surrounded the women, whistled, screamed, cursed, and pushed into them. Police distanced some of them."