I was very concerned to see the blatant lack of accurate reporting on the 15,000 women of all denominations who came to pray and at the same time to peacefully protest Women of the Wall (“Tensions Seen Mounting On Prayer At Wall,” May 17).
The dozen or so riffraff were unfortunate, and the provocation by members of the Women of the Wall made the situation difficult. The numbers speak for themselves. The majority doesn’t want a change. Note that the Israel Democracy Institute found that 38 percent of Israelis support the cause of Women of the Wall, not 62 percent as you reported.
The only question asked was about women wearing male prayer garments [yarmulke, tallit] at the Kotel. It did not include a question about Women of the Wall’s true goal, which is to tear down the existing Israeli religious infrastructure.
Editor’s Note: According to a report in Haaretz, the poll in question, conducted among a representative sample of 600 Israelis ages 18 and above, found that “48 percent support the right of Women of the Wall to pray as they see fit, wearing a prayer shawl and phylacteries and reciting their prayers out loud, whereas 38 percent said they did not support this right.”
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