Up to 1,000 Jewish women worshiped at Jerusalem's Western Wall Monday despite attempts by a group led by a rabbi to block the service, officials said.
A demonstration called by an ultra-Orthodox rabbi against the Women of the Wall's prayer service failed after fewer people than expected showed up, The Jerusalem Post reported.
No arrests or violence were reported but Women of the Wall said on its Facebook page men and boys harassed one of the board members of the female group, which aims to allow women to pray freely at one of Judaism's most sacred sites.
It said on its Facebook page: "25 years of sisterhood prayer and struggle at the the Kotel [Western Wall]. We have arrived. With 1,000 people singing hallel."
Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall, had called for ultra-Orthodox high school girls to fill the space reserved for women's prayer, a strategy he had used in previous months. Fewer than expected showed up and Women of the Wall was able to conduct the service.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israelis that "we are on the eve of an...
