ISRAEL-RELIGION-JUDAISM-WOMEN-OF-THE-WALL

An Israeli member of the liberal Jewish religious group Women of the Wall wears a "Tallit", traditional Jewish prayer shawls for men, as she prays at the Western Wall plaza outside the women's section in Jerusalem's Old City, on April 24, 2016, after the group was banned from conducting the first-ever' women's priestly blessing for the Jewish feast of Passover. A bid by a group of Jewish women to challenge tradition at Jerusalem's Western Wall with a blessing usually conducted by men was curtailed after a decision by Israel's attorney general. The plan was the latest by the group, Women of the Wall, to push for equal prayer rights at the site, the holiest location where Jews are currently allowed to pray. Around 50 women gathered on the plaza leading to the wall amid Passover celebrations and held prayers, though without carrying out the full blessing. They prayed under heavy police guard as a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and boys in dark suits looked on and harangued them. A decision from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit earlier in the week prohibited the first-ever "women's priestly blessing" at the wall because it did not conform to local custom. The ultra-Orthodox establishment that oversees the Western Wall strongly opposed the bid, viewing it as a desecration under their strict interpretation of Jewish law. (Photo by GALI TIBBON / AFP) (Photo by GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)